Southern okra and tomato stew
Okra, sweet corn and tomatoes stewed with a little bacon and Creole spice, a Southern summer classic spooned over rice.
- 50 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.45 a serving
- 410 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- 3 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb okra, sliced into ½-inch rounds
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 2 cans diced tomatoes, with the juice
- 1½ cups frozen corn
- 1 tsp hot sauce (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 cups water, divided
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp dried thyme
Each serving has about 410 calories, 12 g protein, 69 g carbs and 11 g fat, and costs about $2.45 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No frozen corn? Canned corn works.
- No hot sauce? Sriracha works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the bacon, the onion and bell pepper, the garlic, and the okra into ½-inch rounds.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
the rice and bring it, 2 cups of the water and ½ teaspoon of the salt in a .
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat until , about 6 minutes.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Food safety: Cook bacon until it’s crisp and no longer translucent.
Turn the heat to medium-high, add the okra and cook, stirring only every minute or so, for 6 to 8 minutes, until lightly .
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Browning okra in hot fat and leaving the lid off keeps it from getting slimy.Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, Cajun seasoning and thyme and cook for 4 minutes, until the onion .
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Add the tomatoes, corn, the last cup of water and the rest of the salt and uncovered over low heat for 15 minutes, until thick.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Taste, add hot sauce if you like, and spoon over the rice.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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