Bamieh Bi Zeit (Lebanese Okra with Tomatoes)

This Lebanese salad is adapted from a recipe we found in the Lebanese chapter of Claudia Roden’s wonderful book, Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon. Roden’s recipe calls for baby onions or shallots; we used shallots, and we followed a variation she suggests — using pomegranate molasses instead of the sugar her base recipe called for; we loved the sweet-sour twang the pomegranate molasses imparted. If you don’t have any, you can follow her base recipe, which calls for stirring in 1 teaspoon of sugar with the tomatoes, salt and pepper. To peel the tomatoes, remove the stems and drop them into boiling water for 10 seconds, then run under cold water. The peels will slip right off.

READ: Captivating, versatile and rich with meaning, okra is an intrepid citizen of the world

Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients

1 pound small or medium okra

1/2 pound shallots, peeled and stem ends trimmed off

6 whole garlic cloves, peeled

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 pound tomatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

3 to 4 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley or cilantro

Instructions

1. Trim the stem-ends of the okra without puncturing the pods. If the shallots are large, halve or quarter them so they’re about twice the size of large garlic cloves.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, turn the heat to low, add the shallots and garlic cloves and gently cook them, stirring frequently, until they’re lightly colored all over, about 5 minutes. Add the okra, turn the heat to medium and sauté for about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the tomatoes, salt and few grinds of black pepper, bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to keep at a simmer. Continue simmering 15 minutes, or until the okra is tender and the sauce is reduced.

4. Stir in the pomegranate molasses and the chopped parsley or cilantro, and cook one more minute. Remove from the heat, stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, taste and adjust the seasoning. Let it cool to room temperature and serve as a salad.

MORE OKRA recipes from Cooks Without Borders:

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RECIPE: BJ Dennis’ Okra & Shrimp Purloo

RECIPE: Quiabos Tostados com Pimenta (Brazilian Chargrilled Okra with Chile)

RECIPE: Shrimp Sauté with Texas Vegetables

RECIPE: Marcus Samuelsson’s Spicy Okra

RECIPE: Charred Okra with a Little Spice

RECIPE: Shrimp, Andouille Sausage and Okra Gumbo

RECIPE: Sweet Home Café’s Spicy Pickled Okra