Locally Grown: Giving okra a chance

Don't you hate it when you have a perfectly legitimate reason to avoid something, then that excuse fades away?

I didn't have to try to avoid okra for the first 24 years of my life. I can't even remember hearing the word until I moved to Anne Arundel County.

My first encounter with the vegetable, which comes from the same family as the hibiscus, was in a Maryland crab soup. The curious-looking rounds didn't take anything away from the dish, but they didn't seem to add anything either. They certainly didn't pique my interest.

My next meeting with okra was in a gumbo made by a friend. This friend...