A bit of chopped chile tossed in with sliced okra pods makes for a shockingly sweet and spicy treat. Okay, the roasted green onions add some of the sweetness, but the okra brings its nutty edge to the party, and that mixes amazingly well with the spicy kick of fresh chile. (Don't like spice? Check out plain old Roasted Okra.)

As always when cooking with okra, look for pods with minimal (if any) browning. You want bright, plump, lively-seeming okra—nothing tired out or past its prime. Remarkably small pods can be kept whole, small and medium pods should be halved as instructed below. Beware of large okra specimens; like zucchini, okra can get woody when it gets to big, and nothing can really change that as much as you'd like.

See Also

Easy Okra Recipes

Fried Okra

Garlic Okra

Ingredients

• 1 pound okra
• 3 green onions
• 1 serrano chile
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes

• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings

Preparation

1. Preheat an oven to 400°F. While the oven heats, trim the okra, removing the tough stem ends. Cut okra pods in half lengthwise for faster, more even roasting, and minimal slime-factor.
2. Trim green onions and cut into 3-inch lengths. Cut the lengths in half lengthwise.
3. Trim chile, cut it in half lengthwise, remove its seeds, and finely chop the chile.
4. Either in a roasting pan, on a rimmed baking sheet, or in a large bowl, combine the okra, green onion, and chile. Drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with the salt. Toss to coat everything evenly and thoroughly. Spread in a single layer in a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet (take a tip from a pro and line the sheet with parchment paper first for fabulous non-stickness and beyond-easy clean-up).

1. Put in the oven and roast until okra is tender and its edges are browning, somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 minutes. After 15 minutes, you may want to take it out and stir things around a bit, being sure to settle the okra back into a single layer to finish roasting. Serve the roasted okra, hot or warm.

 If this appeals to you, you may well also like Grilled Okra.