"Try It, You'll Like It," Said Art-Thou-Art

"I do not like okra," I said. I have no desire to cook it or eat it.
"Try it, you might like it," insisted Art.

It did seriously remind me of Dr. Seuss' book, Green Eggs and Ham.

Our friends had asked us to watch their house and garden while they were gone. They really have green thumbs and had a bunch of cucumber and okra plants producing a bumper crop. I was all for eating the cucumbers but there were so many that we shared them with my aunts.

We also shared the okra with them and our neighbors. But there was so much! I couldn't believe how much okra just a few plants could produce. I wanted to give them all away, but Art insisted on checking out some recipes and cooking some. He likes okra.


There was still left over kahlua turkey stir fried with mustard cabbage, kabocha pumpkin, and cucumber namasu (sort of a pickled cucumber) that my mother prepared the night before. To that mom also stir fried some choi sum for our dinner.

Art then went to work. He prepared the okras two different ways. He pan fried the first bunch of okras with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. The second variation was to cook the okras in vinegar and brown sugar.

He then cooked up his anchovy omelet with peas. It's one of my mother's favorite dishes that he makes. I could not believe how much food I saw on our dinner table.

When I saw two pans full of okra I wasn't exactly enthused.

"Try it, you'll like it," said my mother. "It's slimy so it's healthy."

Hunh?

Out of courtesy to my husband I did. And you know what? It was really delicious! Surprisingly delicious!!! Now I'm sorry we gave so much of it away. The vinegar and brown sugar was the best I thought.

Therefore, I guess... (with apologies to Dr. Suess)

I will eat okra in a box.
And I will eat okra with a fox.
And I will eat okra in a house.
And I will eat okra with a mouse.
And I will eat okra here and there.
Say! I will eat okra ANYWHERE!

I do so like okra!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Art-Thou-Art!

POSTSCRIPT: By the way, here's the video of Jesse Jackson reading Green Eggs and Ham. Cracks me up everytime.