Okra Rice is a simple yet tasty main dish that can greatly enhance the nutritive value of any meal although it uses very humble ingredients like the okra and rice. There are a great deal of recipe variations to this dish, with some incorporating vegetables, others meat and still others using poultry to lend a different taste to this dish.
Ingredients and Preparation
Vegetable oil, long grain rice, chopped onion, green bell pepper, tomato, minced garlic cloves, chicken stock or broth, fresh or dried thyme, bay leaf, red pepper sauce and okra cut into 1/2-inch slices are required. Oil is heated in a skillet; onion, garlic are sautéed and then bell peppers added and fried. Rice is added and also stir-fried for few minutes. All ingredients except okra are added and then brought to a boil. The rice is allowed to cook by soaking up the stock or broth till it becomes tender. The okra is finally added and cooked till tender.
Nutritive Value
A single serving of ~ 180g provides • 153.1 calories with 22 calories from fat • Total Fat content is 2.5 g with 0.4 g saturated fat • Cholesterol content is 1.7 mg • Sodium content is 92.8 mg and Potassium 1311.7 mg • Total carbohydrate content is 28.6 g with dietary fibre content of 3.9 g and 4.5 g sugars. • Protein content is 5.2 g.
Nutritional Improvement
As such okra rice is a low-fat, almost cholesterol free, nutritious meal that supplies carbohydrates for instant energy and is a fair source of fibre. Nutritional increments in the form of added spinach leaves and pine nuts can help increase the ratio of healthy unsaturated fats while also adding fibre, Vitamin A, K, folate, B-vitamins as well as minerals like iron, zinc, phosphorus, copper, manganese and selenium.