I know the thought of okra causes shivers in the hearts of most northerners. And this southern girl doesn’t generally like the thought of it either!  Slimey, seedy, squishy, slippery. Yuck!  Unless you fry it, and then YUUUUMMMM!  But Dan the Man and I don’t fry anything, so fried okra has never graced our table. That is, until I tried oven-roasting it. The okra has all the crunch of the fried version but none of the grease and calories.  And it’s super simple too.

First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Then wash the okra and dry it well in a clean towel. Cut off the top “hat” and the bottom tip.

Cut each piece in half lengthwise. Put it all on a rimmed sheet pan. (I also added a layer of parchment paper to make clean-up easy.)  Toss with a scant tablespoon or two of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  You don’t want too much oil, or the okra won’t crisp and brown properly.

Put the sheet pan in the preheated oven and roast for about 15 minutes.

Crunch away.  You may become a roasted okra convert!!!