Family Dinner: Veggie Chili with Roasted Okra and Polenta

I met up with my close friend, Tracy, today for some computer help--thanks, T! We ended up using free wifi at one of the Starbuckses (Starbucksi?) bordering Union Square. Because Wednesdays are one of the four days a week that Greenmarket hits the square, I thought it'd be a shame to head home without some fresh produce--and maybe a cookie or two.

After my initial walk-through, one thing was clear: this week is all about okra. Now, I haven't been to Greenmarket in a few weeks, so maybe last week and the one before that were all about okra too. All I knew was that I had to bring some home to play with. After my subway ride home, I Googled "okra" to get some recipe ideas. I love it fried--who doesn't--but I just didn't want the calories or cholesterol. I also love it pickled, but I needed some okra in my belly tonight, so we'll have to revisit that idea later. The biggest challenge most cooks have with okra is its natural slime. Doni loves excellent texture as much as I love a good flavor and slime just won't make for a good family dinner.

I searched online to find a less gooey recipe ("okra without goo" doesn't show up any results, in case you were wondering). I found a post on All Recipes that had 1,291 excellent reviews. The method? Roasting! Roasting is actually my favorite way to eat veggies (asparagus, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, edamame, you name it, I've roasted it), so I knew I had a winner. Because the farmer's market also had some incredible fresh garlic, I thinly sliced two cloves and added them to the mix.


The results? I think that it could have been roasted a bit longer. The okra took a while to brown--about 25 minutes--and even then, it wasn't quite enough. On the bright side: no slime at all--but Doni still wasn't so enthused and I ended up inhaling the whole bowl myself. (What? I like okra.) I think we'll have to try again soon with pickled okra and see if I can bring D around.


Roasted Okra with Garlic
Parve & Vegan

1/2 lb fresh okra
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper, as desired
olive oil

Directions. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut okra into 1/2 inch slices. Thinly slice garlic and mix with okra. Drizzle or spray olive oil to lightly coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Serves 2.

Because you can't eat a whole meal of okra (unless it's pickled! mmmm...), I put up an easy veggie chili, loosely based on Jessica Seinfeld's awesome book, Deceptively Delicious. I recently picked one up for $5 at Kohls as part of Kohls Cares for Kids (score!) and you'll definitely be reading a lot more about it on this blog in the future. Her recipe centers around ground turkey. I used ground seitan. She uses chicken broth and I'm all about the vegetable broth. I also added a wide array of beans: black, cannelli, pinto, soy, some bacon bits for a bit of smoke, and because I like to use what I already have accessible: a whole brick of pureed, frozen winter squash. I also thinly sliced up some pre-made polenta (the stuff in a tube) and roasted it along with the okra to use in place of tortilla chips. I made a large portion so that I can freeze half of it for another family dinner in the future.


Four Bean Veggie Chili
Parve & Vegan

3 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can pinto beans, rinsed
1 can white beans, rinsed
1 can of corn
1 8oz can tomato sauce
12 oz pureed winter squash
8 oz vegetable broth
1 cup shelled edamame
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp chipotle powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili pepper
salt, as desired
black pepper, as desired
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz ground seitan
1/4 c bacon bits

Directions. Put a large pot on medium heat. When warm, add olive oil, celery, onion, and red pepper. Stir occasionally. When onions are transluscent, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add seitan and bacon bits. Cook for 2 -3 minutes. Add spices and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add beans, corn and edamame, stirring to combine. Pour in the vegetable broth and stir with a wooden or silicon spoon, scraping the bottom of the pot. Mix in the tomato sauce and squash puree until smooth and well-incorporated. Bring the chili to a boil on high heat. Serve with tortilla chips or polenta. Serves 8 - 10.

Dairy options: Garnish with cheddar cheese or sour cream and chives, if desired.


The resulting chili is great--smokey, spicy and "meat"y. Very very hearty. My only edit for the future is pre-cooking some of the firmer ingredients like edamame. It just didn't melt into the chili as nicely as we would have liked. The best part of it all was the salted polenta chips. D and I have a tendency to stuff ourselves with delicious food like there's no tomorrow. The polenta chips provided a nice stopping point for us. "No more polenta? Well I am a little full now that you mention it..." So 1 tube is just perfect for 2 people. It also had a fun, hors d'oevre kind of look that could work well for a party. Next time I might use my mandoline (not the musical instrument, people!) to make the slices even thinner and crisper.

Overall, I'd say the Greenmarket trip was well worth my while, even if I did eat up all the okra myself. I stayed strong and magically avoided their cookies, so it looks like this little chef gets an extra big snow cone tonight. More on that later...