Grilling okra is perhaps the simplest way to prepare one of the weirder members of the vegetable kingdom. The insides are moist (but not slimy) and the outsides get a little crispy, giving you a bit of that fried okra crunch infused with smokiness from the grill. Without all the hassle and the grease of fried okra.

And the best part, your house doesn’t smell like you fried a pair of old running shoes.

We paired those crispy, smokey okra pods with some Jalapeno-Cilantro Ranch Dressing as a dipper. You cannot go wrong with ranch dressing and you certainly cannot go wrong with ranch that has been dressed up with jalapeno, lime, and cilantro.

It’s important to use small pods, 4-inches and less. Large okra pods are tough and stringy and not fit for grilling (or buying) – have you ever imagined what it would be like to grill burlap? Even the ranch won’t help. The original recipe recommended pods that were 2 inches or less which, unless you grow okra, is actually a pretty unreasonable requirement. I found the shorter pods up to ~4 inches came out fine.
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