Braised Okra

Today I’m adding another dish to my stable of Greek recipes.   or “bamies” as we say in Greek (pronounced bum-yes) is a wonderful, tasty vegetarian dish.  Truth be told, I was never a fan of okra.  Especially, whilst growing up.  I know it seems like I keep on repeating myself  about particular foods, but I learnt to appreciate it more in my later years.  I had tried it in an “authentic” gumbo in the United States-thought it wasn’t so bad and decided to give the Greek version another go.

This is a very simple dish to prepare requiring a few ingredients.  It belongs to the “ladera” (pronounced la-the-ra) family of dishes which translates as dishes cooked in an olive oil  based sauce (the Greek word for oil is “lathi”).  These dishes are almost always vegetarian and usually include garlic and tomatoes.  They are so tasty and the sauce that is created is perfect for mopping up with plenty of crusty bread.  There is something really magical about using olive oil to braise vegetables in this manner.  I also love green beans prepared this way and will be featuring that recipe in the coming winter months.   is also Lent friendly and suitable for those who are fasting during the lead up to Easter.

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