Vegetarians Get Gumbo Too

About author / Josh Gunn

Bachelor chef; southern cooking; mixologist; university professor. Josh's recipes will delight (and sometimes terrify) you.

If it's not obvious by now, y'all should know I love to eats-da-meats: chicken, steak, alligator, or snail--if it is seasoned right, I'll put it in my mouth. Okay, well, not everything: I turn up my nose at "Rocky Mountain Oysters."

Nevertheless, my love of meat requires in some cosmic way that everyone I end up dating will be a vegetarian. Let's call it Joshie's Law: the cuisine preferences of your lover are inversely proportional to yours; the more you like meat, the less likely your partner will be to eat it. Because I've lived with Joshie's Law for over a decade, I've become something of a vegetarian cuisine stud. Today's recipe is for all you vegetarians out there and the bachelors who cook for them.

Although it is the undisputed truth that last week's gumbo recipe is the best in the world, this week's vegetarian version ain't too shabby. And this gumbo has the actual, original ingredient of gumbo: okra. I'm told that when gumbo came to be in southern Louisiana, okra was added as a thickening agent ("gumbo," the Tubes tell us, is derived from the Angolan word for okra).

Growing up in Georgia I only had fried okra and had no idea it was used in soups. Some folks don't like okra because it's a tad slimy when you put it into soups and stews. But to me that's the key selling point: with its distinctive veggie flavor and slimy, mucous-like texture, nothing's better than slurping cooked okra and swishing it around with your tongue! Try it out with the following gumbo for vegetarians (too).

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 2 cups sliced okra
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 packet imitation ham powder, available in the Kosher food section
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 dash Cajun seasoning (more if desired)
• 1 cup boiling vegetable broth or water
• hot, cooked white rice