Grilled Okra-and-Pepper Skewers with Dijon Dipping Sauce

Okra is in season, and it's time to show it some love. While some Southerners can't stand okra's sometimes slimy texture, others—like culinary historian Jessica B. Harris—believe that this under-appreciated vegetable is not given the credit it's due. Harris calls okra a gift, "without which New Orleans gumbos and many a summer succotash certainly would not be the same."

If you're an okra naysayer, you probably just haven't found the right way to cook it, Harris says. "The trick to cooking this vegetable is to avoid fighting its natural tendencies," suggests Harris. "The more it's sliced, the more it exudes its slipperiness. So if you don't like the slime, the solution is easy: Cut it as little as possible, or leave it intact."

That's the strategy she takes in this recipe for Grilled Okra-and-Pepper Skewers with Dijon Dipping Sauce, where whole okra gets skewered with sweet peppers and chars on the grill. The resulting crisp-tender grilled vegetables are ready for dunking in a tangy, umami-laden mustard sauce. That sounds like a cookout home run to us—and a great vegetarian option to boot.