crispy roasted okra with romesco sauce
crispy roasted okra with romesco sauce
(aka my most requested recipe)
And just like that… our final CSA boxes for 2023 are out the door! I’d like to think that we finished the season strong, with boxes filled with a literal rainbow of summer goodness – tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, corn, okra, beans, basil, garlic and even some summer lettuce.
It feels very strange (but also very freeing) to end our season in August (in case you missed it, we’re having a baby (!) in about 8 weeks). In a normal year, right now my crew and I would be hustling to prep + re-plant nearly all the beds on the farm with fall veggies – kale, broccoli, cabbage, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, heaps of different kinds of greens, etc. It’s a lot of work, made even tougher by the ridiculously hot and humid weather that comes around every August here in North Carolina.
And while we are technically skipping this fall growing season, the gardener in me can’t resist planting a *few* beds of veggies for our family and friends to enjoy through the fall. So this week, we prepped six 50-foot long beds, and I’ve already gotten about half of them planted with carrots, beets, turnips, and radishes (see below for photos of before, during, and after bed prep):
Even though I won’t be doing much growing this season, for all of you getting ready to plant your fall gardens, I’d love to help!
Not sure what to plant? When to plant it? Or just how to get started from the very beginning? Start by checking out all the Garden Resources I have available here on Substack. Still have questions? Just leave me a message in the comments and I’m happy to help troubleshoot. :)
..keep reading to get cooking!
Okra is a summer veggie that keeps farmers/gardeners on their toes… the pods start coming in at a trickle, and with each passing week, the harvests slowly (but exponentially!) increase… and come August, it’s no small feat to keep up with the non-stop harvesting.
I feel like you either love okra or you hate it… though I’d like to think I can help change the minds of any haters out there. Okra has a reputation for being “slimy” (which, understandably, isn’t an adjective you typically want to associate with vegetables..), so my recommendation for enjoying okra is as follows:
A) *embrace the slime* and make a stew/sauce (like this stew) OR
B) *banish the slime* by roasting/grilling/broiling/frying the pods at a high heat
Today’s recipe – Crispy Roasted Okra Romesco Sauce – embraces the latter strategy, by simply roasting the okra pods in a hot oven for about 25 minutes, and piling the crispy pods over a bed of delishhh romesco sauce.
My romesco sauce recipe is hands-down one of my most requested recipes *ever* –though it definitely didn’t originate with me. Romesco is a traditional almond + roasted red pepper based sauce that originated in the Catalonia area in Spain. The recipe couldn’t be easier – just throw the ingredients in a food processor and whiz everything up until smooth. I’ve honestly yet to find anything that romesco sauce *doesn’t* pair well with… enjoy it on crudité platters, with roasted veggies, toasted bread, sautéed greens, or alongside chicken, steak, fish, etc etc.
Hungry yet?! Keep scrolling for the full recipe.
Crispy Roasted Okra with Romesco Sauce
Serves 4
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