Growing up there were only 2 ways that I would eat okra: fried or pickled. The flavor was never an issue, but it took either process for me to enjoy the texture. It doesn’t take much for these pods to become sticky and gooey, a by-product of their unique mucilage capabilities. You can reduce this effect by cooking them with an acidic food, such as lemon.

In this garlic roasted okra we’re not only adding lemon but we’re baking the okra pieces flat on a metal pan to crisp up. The result is that the okra ends up a little crunchy on top and far from the sticky okra you might be used to.

For this recipe, as the name implies, there’s a hefty does of chopped garlic. This gives the okra a wonderful flavor. There’s also a lot of herbs in this recipe: fresh rosemary, sage, oregano, and thyme.

You can take a shortcut with these fresh herbs by buying a single packet of fresh poultry herbs. This way you don’t waste these precious seasonings and you get rosemary, sage, and thyme all in one go. Then just get some oregano and you’re almost ready to bake this dish.

There’s also a little bit of jalapeño in this recipe. To avoid any confusion I cut my (de-seeded) peppers lengthwise. If you just chop into them they can look a little bit too much like your sliced okra. While you do want the mild spice they add when baked with the other ingredients, you don’t usually want a huge hit of heat with a big bite of pepper.

Alternatively you can use them finely chopped so each bite has just a little heat.

After mixing everything together just bake until the tops of the okra pieces are golden brown and crisp. It’s a very easy recipe, but it’s a tasty way to make crispy okra without frying. Now you can enjoy this tasty pod without the slime!