Garlic-butter beef + Fried okra

When I'm not thinking about science, I read a lot about health & nutrition. Too often, though, I find myself coming across articles about losing weight and the latest diet trends and so on, and frankly, I find it tedious.  People have become so obsessed with what is "right" to eat, that eating has become a source of anxiety, rather than a source of pleasure.  Everyone's counting calories, grams of fat, grams of sodium, etc.  If only we could all just step back and listen to our bodies and let them tell us what they want.  Sometimes I crave a big green leafy salad, and other times I find myself in the mood for a piece of meat, and still other times I find myself wanting a piece of chocolate.  I don't eat the same thing every day, I keep it varied, and as a result, I find that I'm usually satisfied...it helps that I eat what I really want.  I just wish "diet advice" was more like that--go with your gut! Being satisfied goes a long way in keeping yourself healthy because you are unlikely to eat extraneous foods in attempt to make up for what you are lacking (or depriving yourself of).

Well, last night was one of those nights where I enjoyed a high-protein, high-fat meal, that was fortunately offset by some high-fiber okra (fiber's an important part of any diet and shouldn't be overlooked).  Shawn made the meal for me, since he has more experience with these ingredients.  Drawing upon his Southern roots, he lightly fried the okra and served it with a fantastic garlic-butter beef:

I actually knew very little about okra in terms of what type of vegetable it is, it's origins in Southern cooking, and so on, so I did a little investigating and found this page to be rather informative.

Anyway, here are the recipes to make this outstanding dinner:

Garlic-butter beef

1. Slice a flank steak into bite-sized pieces and season generously with Montreal Steak seasoning.  Pan-cook it until it reaches your desired doneness and set aside and keep it warm.

2. To the pan, add a hefty amount of finely-chopped garlic (~5 cloves or so) with a little chicken stock to deglaze the pan.  Cook the garlic gently until fragrant and add about 4 Tablespoons of butter.  Stir until the butter is melted and spoon some of the sauce over the beef. 
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Easy pan-fried okra

1. Remove the stems (tops) of about 8 medium-large fresh okra, and slice into disks.

2. Beat 1 egg in a bowl with a splash of milk and water and add the okra slices.

3. In a plastic bag, combine equal amounts of potato buds (Betty Crocker are gluten-free) and gluten-free bread crumbs (I have Glutino on hand which is a combination of corn meal, salt, and evaporated cane juice so you can use a mixture of those three ingredients or any other gluten-free bread crumb you have on hand), enough to coat all of the okra, and season lightly with salt and pepper.  Add the egg-dipped okra slices and toss to coat well.

4. In a pan, heat about an inch or so of peanut oil (or any other heat-safe oil).  When it reacts to a light splash of water, add the okra and gently fry, turning to brown all sides.  Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with a little salt before serving.
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This was an awesome dinner.  The garlic-butter sauce on the beef gave it the richness and buttery mouthfeel of an expensive cut of beef, even though it was cheap flank steak.  The okra was also wonderful.  It was fresh and crunchy and the fry coating on the outside got crispy and was flavorful, adding a nice contrast to the vegetable inside. In fact, I had trouble keeping myself from eating the okra, as there were some leftovers in the kitchen when I went to clean up. It was really delicious and surprisingly easy on the stomach--the lack of gluten really makes a difference!  Also, the okra wasn't oily or soggy either, and best of all, not gummy or slimy, which, as I understand, can happen to okra as the mucilage cooks.

I highly-recommend treating yourself to this yummy meal!

Your turn:  Do you enjoy okra?

Source: http://visualcookbook.blogspot.com/2010/08/garlic-butter-beef-fried-okra.html