Quick Summery Snack: Soy Sauce and Apple Vinegar Okra

How to make a refreshing cold summer snack for your lunch box, dinner or snack

If you are anything like me, when summer comes around you start craving something salty and sour. Salt, to replenish the salt your body loses in sweat, and sour, for that fresh cool taste that will temporarily make you forget about the heat. One of my favorite snacks is the easy to make no-name "chilled chopped okra stirred in a soy sauce and apple vinegar mix".

Here’s how to make it:

1. Cut the okra in about 3-5mm thick slices, then use the flat of the knife and your palm to crush the slices. You will hear a satisfying crunch, don’t overdo it, just a small crush. Place the slightly crushed okra in a bowl or plastic box, jar or anything that can be covered.
2. In a small cup, make a mix of equal parts apple vinegar and soy sauce. Stir it together and then pour it over the okra slices. How much of this mix you want to make depends on your taste and how much okra you have, you will quickly figure it out from what looks right. No need to be exact here.
3. Close the lid or cover the bowl and shake it vigorously for half a minute or so, letting the okra mix thoroughly with the sauce mix. Then place in the refrigerator for half an hour or so before serving on a small plate. It looks great, and it tastes great, and the consistency is interesting too.

Okra is also exceedingly simple to grow on your own in your garden or in pots. Buy the first seeds and from then on, every year just let a few okra go to seed without harvesting the pods and you will have free seeds that are easy to harvest from the dried okra. Enjoy!?