Eggplant and Peanut Stew

I'm not really sure how I stumbled across this recipe, but some how I found the Glitter and Glue blog and this recipe. I'm a total sucker for anything with peanut sauce, so I wanted to run into the kitchen and immediately make it.

This stew contains okra, which I don't make very often, but I do like a lot. The main reason I don't cook it much at home is because it tends to be a slimy, which is a huge turnoff when cooking and eating food. The okra did add a bit of slime element to this dish, but I was able to work through my fear of slime and I ate it anyway. It was really delicious, so I'm glad I did. My friend Karyn read online that if you stir fry okra at a high heat, it keeps it from being slimy, so I will do that next time I make this. And I will definitely make it again because it was so good.

It is believed that okra originated in Egypt and was a favorite of Cleopatra's. In other countries, it is called gumbo (the stew is actually named after it), bhindi and lady's fingers. Interestingly, it is from the same family as cotton, cocoa and hibiscus. Okra has many healing properties; stabilizing blood sugar and reduce inflammation being two of the main ones. It is high in vitamins C, A, K and B vitamins, as well as iron, calcium, magnesium and manganese. So buy some okra and give it a try!

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