Skillet-Roasted Spiced Okra

The first thing I did was to make a coulis. This was done with roasted red peppers from a jar I had in my pantry. I pureed it then slowly added in EVOO, salt, and white pepper. My original plan was to do something red... like fire red... but I didn't come up with the idea until after I purchased my stuff at the store. The roasted peppers with EVOO ended up orange, but the color is still nice and fits into my overall vision.


Maybe next time I will try something else... fresh red peppers with no EVOO maybe? Beet reduction? I wonder what would give a good red color and still fit into the flavor of the dish.

The rest is pretty much inspired by a recipe from Food And Wine magazine.

I pan fried some okra with a mixture of turmeric, cumin, cayenne, smoked paprika, cinnamon, fennel, and coriander. Then I did an arugula and yogurt puree, leaving out the cucumbers because... well... I forgot to buy them. I then blended in the puree into some cooked lentils.

After placing the lentil salad in a bowl and placing that on the plate, I laid down the roasted pepper sauce. I then placed the okra on top of that. Lastly, I placed some edible orange flowers I found, in the bowl and on the plate to tie it all together.

Overall I think it looks beautiful. The okra with the red pepper sauce was great! The lentil salad was crappy. Maybe I added too much yogurt or maybe it needs cucumbers to work. I never cooked lentils before so maybe they weren't cooked long enough. Not sure.

Overall I am excited about my plating. I want to make sure I practice more than just the cooking part.