Okra Stew

Okra Stew

If your New Year’s resolution included something along the lines of eating more vegetables or new vegetables, have you tried Okra? Okra is a flowering plant that is completely edible and very popular in the Southern States. In my Arabic culture, we also grew up eating Okra in recipes like this Lebanese style Okra Stew (which we call bamia/bamya in Arabic).

In fact, it’s one of dozens of stews we eat, all made up of different vegetables, and mostly all containing a garlic/cilantro/tomato base. What I love about the stews we eat is that they are super easy to make in one pot, have a ton of nutrition from the garlic, olive oil, tomatoes and the vegetables used, and they are very comforting in the winter over a warm bowl of rice pilaf.

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The recipe below has the easy steps to follow to make this Okra  Stew. And if you’d like to make it vegan/vegetarian, just don’t add the beef and the recipe will still be fabulous! You can also substitute it for chicken if you’d like. I make this vegan all the time and love the results.

I didn’t include the rice pilaf in the recipe below or in the nutrition facts because I know some people may want to eat it alone or with brown rice or quinoa. However, to make the traditional white rice pilaf, I fry 1/4 cup of vermicelli with olive oil, then I stir in the rice (2 cups usually) and cook the rice as I usually would, adding an extra 1/4 cup of water for the vermicelli.

Hope that helps, and hope you try this amazing okra stew 🙂

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Okra Beef Stew

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

This Okra Stew is a hearty Lebanese style recipe with robust flavors of stewed tomatoes, cilantro, garlic and sauteed onions - the whole family will enjoy!

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: Beef Stew, Okra Stew

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 311 kcal

Author: Yumna Jawad

Ingredients

• 2 14 oz packages frozen baby okra I like the [url href="http://www.baroodyimports.com/2011/05/frozen-vegetables.html"]Montana[/url]brand
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 4 oz tomato paste
• 4 cups boil water
• 2 vine-riped tomatoes chopped
• 16 oz beef tips boiled or seared (I like to pan-fry mine with olive oil, salt and pepper)

Instructions

1. In a heavy bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat, heat the the olive oil, then add the garlic, cilantro and onions and cook for about 1 minute until fragrant.
2. Add the frozen okra to the garlic cilantro mixture and stir well, coating the okra with the mixture and breaking up the frozen okra. Pan-fry the okra for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the okra is fully cooked.
3. Add the tomato paste, fresh cut tomatoes and 4 cups of boiling water to the pan. Then add the beef tips, and mix around to incorporate everything together. Lower heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes until sauce thickens.
4. Serve over traditional Arabic rice pilaf and sprinkle fresh cilantro for garnish.

Nutrition Facts

Okra Beef Stew

Amount Per Serving (1 g)

Calories 311 Calories from Fat 198

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 22g 34%

Saturated Fat 6g 30%

Cholesterol 53mg 18%

Sodium 208mg 9%

Potassium 751mg 21%

Total Carbohydrates 13g 4%

Dietary Fiber 3g 12%

Sugars 5g

Protein 15g 30%

Vitamin A 24.3%

Vitamin C 35.3%

Calcium 9.3%

Iron 14.9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.