Stewed Okra and Tomatoes Creole Style

There’s a reason why the Southern dish of stewed okra and tomatoes is timeless. It’s just plain good. First you start with browning some bacon, then you add the holy trinity—onions, bell pepper, and celery, then the tomatoes, okra and spices. Everything is cooked together until tender and almost falling apart.

Okra is a summer vegetable so we are seeing it in the farmer’s market right now. But you can get frozen okra all year round which is perfectly fine stewed like this. If you don’t have access to okra at all, you can prepare green beans in a similar manner (see recipe).

Do you have a favorite summer okra dish? Please let us know about it in the comments. I love okra and am always looking for ways to cook with it.

Stewed Okra and Tomatoes Creole Style Recipe

You can use either whole or thickly sliced okra for this recipe.

Obviously we believe this dish is best with bacon, but if you don't eat bacon or want to make a vegetarian dish, leave it out and use a tablespoon or two of olive oil instead.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces bacon, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch wide slices (lardons)
• 1 cup diced onion (about 1 medium onion)
• 1 cup diced bell pepper (about 1 bell pepper)
• 1/2 cup diced celery (about one rib)
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic (about 1 clove)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 15-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes and their juices
• 1 pound (16-ounces) of frozen or fresh okra, whole or thickly sliced, trimmed of tough tops if whole, defrosted if frozen
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 pinch of cayenne
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 1 scant pinch of ground cloves (watch it on the ground cloves, a little goes a long way, and you can easily overdo it!)
• 1/2 cup water

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