The sun decided to at least peek out today! I don’t know about where you live, but the weather in Georgia has been very odd lately. As in constant rain and temps in the 60’s and 70’s when usually our summers involve humid days hovering around 100 degrees. I have no idea what’s going on! But there was enough sun this morning that it actually came into our bedroom and woke me up, which I love. I woke up too starving to wait for breakfast!
So I had a coffee and piece of toast while I was making my “real” breakfast. It felt like a frothed milk kind of morning! FYI, soy creamer does not froth nearly as well as plain soymilk or cream. But it still tastes delicious. And so did real breakfast! Cheese grits (a combination of spicy pimento and fontina cheeses), a poached egg, and TJ’s new meatless breakfast sausage.
I’ve been ALL about the grits this past week! I’ve had them almost every morning. A bowl of grits keeps me full for hours, and with an egg on top it’s even better.
Once I had my breakfast (I made Jason some too), I headed out to finish the rest of my grocery shopping for the week.
Our groceries this week came from a combination of farmer’s markets. Friday I got the plum tomatoes and some (unpictures) hot peppers from the mobile farmers market that comes to our complex. Yesterday I went to the Decatur Farmers Market and picked up some cherry tomatoes, butternut squash (AH! Fall is coming!) and okra. I got the rest of what we needed from DeKalb Farmers Market, which is basically an amazing farmers market style grocery store. Three cheers for local food! I can’t even believe how gorgeous and delicious the tomatoes are right now.
I’m back to getting fresh flowers for the house every week! Only a few bucks and does so much to cheer up the place.
I also got a bag of Georgia peaches. The stand said “Last peaches of the season”, and I may have cried a little. I will savor these guys.
Soul Food Sunday is back! Sundays just seem like the perfect time for a Southern meal to me. I used those okra from the farmers market to make a really delicious side dish.
Okra doesn’t get nearly enough props! It’s delicious, inexpensive, and really good for you (full of vitamins and antioxidants!). If you’ve ever shied away from it because you think it’s slimy, you need to try this recipe!
- 2 c. fresh okra
- olive oil
- 1 t. salt
- 1 t. garlic powder
- 1/2 t. pepper
- 1 T. grated parmesan cheese
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Slice okra in half lengthways (you can cut the tops off to if you like).
- Place okra on a cookie sheet and drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil, a couple teaspoons max (too much oil makes it soggy).
- Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and toss everything together.
- Spread the okra out evenly on the pan and roast in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the okra starts to brown. Flip them over a couple times during the roasting.
- Once they are starting to get golden. sprinkle the cheese on top of the okra. Return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese and both sides of all the okra are golden brown.
- Serve hot!
Roasting it at a high temp gets the okra all crispy, and the parmesan cheese and garlic give it so much flavor. I could eat this all day.
Along with the okra I used the cherry tomatoes to make a fresh corn salad.
I added a little of the basil and lemon thyme that I’m growing to the salad. So good! And for protein I fried Jason a local catfish fillet, and cooked a meatless chicken cutlet for myself.
Of course my sous-chef was there with me the whole time. 🙂
Have a great start to your week!
-Lauren
10 Responses
Jemma @ celery and cupcakes
I love okra. It’s a great addition to soups and stews.
Lauren @ Dash of Soul
It is! Really helps with thickening things up!
Nicole @ Treasure Tromp
TJ has new veggie sausages? How would you compared them to Morningstar?
Lauren @ Dash of Soul
They’re SO GOOD! I like them better than Morningstar, they don’t have as much of that “soy” taste…you know what I mean. 🙂
Lauren
I was shocked the first time I saw okra at our Farmers’ Market. I thought it was a purely Southern thing. We refer to it as “snotty,” but I wouldn’t recommend saying that to anyone who’s never tried it before 😛 This looks wonderful!
Lauren @ Dash of Soul
HAHA it definitely DOES have a lot of slime factor, but roasting it really takes that away, I promise! I actually like the sliminess but I could see why people could get turned off…it’s the only vegetable I can think of with that bizarre texture.
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table
I’m trying so hard to like okra… the rope gets me though. I even tried it raw!
Lauren @ Dash of Soul
HAHA I know what you’re talking about. I read somewhere though that small young okra are more tender and that they don’t get ropey until they’re mature, by which time they’re not as tasty. You’re brave for trying them raw!
Barbara Good
I love the sound of your farmer’s markets, how lucky you are to have so many great options. And the tomatoes and peaches are making me wish our terrible wet, miserable and cold winter would leave and for spring and summer to be here already. As for the grits and okra, what?? Both new ones for me. I have read abut okra on other blogs but have never come across it in Australia. It sounds….. interesting.
Lauren @ Dash of Soul
I do feel lucky to have such great markets nearby! I’ve lived other places in the US that didn’t have nearly as many options.
I bet you would love both okra and grits! Grits are so easy to love (especially with cheese inside). And I bet there are some awesome Australian ingredients that I’ve never heard of! That’s why I love the internet. 🙂