I’ve got a little story to go along with today’s recipe — which isn’t really a recipe, more of a feature — but I felt like it made sense to post this today_
I was at the park recently with Kenya, playing and giving him dinner (yes, in spite of the choking risk, I do my fair share of chasing Kenya around during dinner time. It’s either that and being armed with the Heimlich Maneuver or he goes to bed hungry). We were hanging out with a bunch of neighborhood dads and their kids and one of the things I was feeding Kenya was some steamed okra. This is how the conversation went_
Dad A_ What’s that green stuff?
Me_ It’s okra.
Dad A_ What’s okra?
Dad B_ It’s a vegetable that people eat in the south. It’s really slimy.
At this point a gorgeous little girl with wide eyes walked up, staring at me and Kenya as to say “can I have some?”
Me (to the little girl): Would you like some?
Dad A_ She won’t like it.
Me (to Dad A): Can I offer her some?
Dad A_ I’m telling you she won’t like it, but ok!
The girl’s dad was right. She didn’t like it….she loved it! The little girl ate not one, not two, but six pieces of okra. I’ve given okra to several other kids with great success and Kenya, well, he could eat it by the pound. The moral of the story is that just because you don’t know or like a food doesn’t mean your kids won’t. Kids tend to be much more open minded then we give them credit for when we don’t impose our dislikes on them. When you offer a meal to your child, try putting a veggie or fruit that you wouldn’t expect them to enjoy and see what happens. Don’t say anything or draw attention to it. Let them discover it for themselves. You just might be surprised!
Steamed Okra
Ingredients
- 1 pound whole okra, or frozen okra pieces
Instructions
- Bring steamer pot of water to a boil.
- Steam whole okra for 6 minutes or frozen okra pieces for 3-4 minutes or until tender (you could also microwave frozen pieces for 2 minutes).
- Serve.
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When you steam the frozen okra pieces – do they get slimy? I just bought frozen okra pieces for the first time. The directions said to boil for 3 minutes. I didn’t know anything about okra – so I was a bit curious when I realized how slimy the pieces were after straining. Do they get slimy when you steam the pieces too?