Not together, of course. The results of the last 8 days or so on my Five Alive Fruit and Veggie Increased Intake diet with next to no weight loss are two very different vegetable prep options. Here’s what happened.

Let’s talk about the okra. We have a local farmer’s market and I was looking for items I might be willing to try in other recipes. I knew that okra was a staple in southern cooking, and it could be fried. Fried sounded like a good way to try something, that might otherwise squish so for about two dollars I purchased a small bag and came home to do some internet research. Thank goodness because apparently okra gets slimy when cut. My solution was a combination of internet items, I poured a bit of vinegar in my hands and patted it over the sliced okra which I left outside in the sun to dry out a bit. Then, I repeated the process about 30 minutes later after I turned the pieces.

From there, I fried them in olive oil and garlic after dipping them in a flaxseed and flour coating with pepper. It took about 10 minutes to cook over medium high heat. Those little pieces were served with a yogurt dipping sauce with mint and rosemary the first time and a tzatziki sauce the second. Overall, pretty good, but they have been relegated to a once a season snack or else a side dish to a main meal. It’s a fair amount of work for a side dish. Not sure, it’s worth it. Maybe, it’s best just to toss a handful into a pot of jambalaya.

If the okra experiment was a 6 out of 10 as a food experiment, cauliflower ceviche was a 10 out of 10. This interesting little appetizer was on the happy hour menu at one of my favorite restaurants. It was only on the happy menu and so it took me two trips to actually get around to sampling it. It was wonderful, could have had two orders but restrained myself. It’s a clone of regular ceviche but without the worry of fresh fish and with much more fiber. The challenge now is to recreate it at home. A Costco sized head of cauliflower was way more than I wanted, so stand-by for my future at home replication attempts.

Cauliflower ceviche reminded me one of an NYC restaurants that served only vegetables in a variety of ways. I think it was on the West side. I wish I could remember it’s name. We visited twice, once each summer over a decade ago, I wish I could really take advantage now. Oh well, looks like I am on my own.

For the record, I missed on my daily 5 this past Saturday due to a headache and went for a more carbohydrate based day. Beyond that- things are consistent- 2-3 fruits, 2 -3 vegetables every day. After the first week though, I needed to add more protein and have incorporated, eggs, milk, peanut butter and nuts into my diet along with a piece of chicken or fish every 2-3 days. Feeling healthy, but not shrinking.