A Fresh Taste: Revisiting Okra for Postpartum Nourishment

by Lou Ann Wattley-Belk

Can you remember that food from childhood that you’d only eat with a ten—foot spoon? You know, the one that you never liked and could not stomach, no matter how many times it was served or what it was served with. It could have been hidden, remixed, chopped into microscopic pieces. You’d still be able to detect and reject it. 

We all had one…or maybe even five…of those foods. Callaloo was at the top of my list.

Callaloo is a popular dish across the Caribbean. We find its roots varied and scattered across the region hundreds of years ago within enslaved African populations. They resourcefully combined plants they knew well (like okra) with indigenous plants like dasheen bush (also referred to as amaranth, xanthosoma, or callaloo bush) to make callaloo. Specifically in my land of birth—Trinidad and Tobago—callaloo is made with restorative veggies like dasheen or spinach, okra, carrots, and pumpkin, along with many herbs and savory chunks of crab meat. Cooked in sweet, creamy coconut milk, it serves up harvest bowl vibes but as a rich, warm puree. Each nation prepares it in their own special way, so Jamaican callaloo is far different from Trinidadian callaloo.

Reading as Adult Me: That sounds soooo good!

Reading as 10 Year Old Me: You lost me at okra.

See….I always had a texture thing with food. Okra pods are “mucilaginous,” giving a slimy feel when cooked. Even though my mom’s callaloo was delicious, slathered over macaroni pie or stewed chicken, that quintessential okra-slime always got me. 

Most of us fortunately grow out of that picky eating stage. And if we’re lucky, some of the foods we could not stand as kids will come back to us in adulthood, offering us a fresh taste of what we once dismissed. That full circle moment came for me when I became a mother. During my postpartum healing, my mother prepared many meals that I ate growing up, callaloo being one of them. And while I wasn’t jumping for joy about seeing callaloo again, I was able to see and taste it with a new appreciation for the star ingredient of this nutrient dense dish, okra.

Benefits of Okra:

• Mucilage: that slimy substance in okra’s pods? It has polysaccharides, which can help soothe the gut—the bedrock of health—and protect it from chronic inflammation. 

• Okra helps your body remove excess toxins, waste and cholesterol. 

• Okra helps regulate blood sugar because of its high insoluble fiber content.

• Okra is rich in vitamins B6 and folic acid which can help reduce depression and PMS symptoms.

So whether you’re a fan of okra or you’ve never been, consider adding some to your postpartum menu. Start with this recipe for a soothing, replenishing callaloo. This recipe is part of a free guide I created to help expecting parents meal plan for their 4th trimester. Taking a slight departure from traditional Trinidadian callaloo, I’ve swapped spinach for dasheen bush, left out the crab meat—making it vegan friendly—and I pulse the callaloo in a blender, significantly breaking down the mucilage. 

I hope you’ll enjoy it and be encouraged to revisit some of your less favorite childhood dishes.

Replenishing Callaloo Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of frozen chopped spinach

• 1 lb of frozen butternut squash

• 1 lb pre-cut frozen okra

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped

• 4-5 scallions (1 ½ cups) finely chopped

• 6 garlic cloves minced

• 1 stalk celery finely chopped

• ½ bunch of cilantro

• ½ bunch of parsley

• 1 habanero pepper, left whole

• 8 sprigs of thyme, whole

• 2 cups organic classic coconut milk

• 1 cup of low sodium vegetable broth

• 1 cup of water

• 2 teaspoon himalayan salt

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Steps:

1. In a large saucepan, heat coconut oil. Add spinach, butternut squash, okra, onion, bell pepper, scallions, garlic, celery, cilantro and parsley.

2. Allow the veggies to simmer down and thaw in the steam, about 5-7 minutes.

3. Add vegetable broth and coconut milk to the pan. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

4. Add the thyme sprigs and habanero pepper. Cover and let simmer on low heat.

5. Continue to cook for at least an hour. Stir every 15 minutes to prevent sticking or uneven cooking. Stir gently to avoid bursting the habanero pepper!

6. After the ingredients have cooked for at least an hour, remove from heat. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Remove habanero pepper and thyme.

7. Quickly pulse the callaloo for about 15-30 seconds until the consistency is smooth. A high powered hand immersion blender or food processor is recommended for this step. If you don’t have either, simmer on low heat until the contents break down significantly. Just remember to stir the callaloo about every 15 minutes.

Serving It Now:

Enjoy alone or on top of fresh rice with baked chicken, fish or roasted chickpeas.

Storing for Later:

Allow the callaloo to cool for about 45 minutes. Transfer to freezer safe, bpa free freezer bags.

Make sure there is no air in the bags before closing and try to lay the bags flat. Your soup will keep for your initial postpartum phase and up to 6 months!

Thawing Frozen Callaloo:

Run the frozen bag under warm water until it is pliable enough to transfer to a pot. Allow to heat on low-medium heat for about 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!

Lou-Ann Wattley Belk is a certified Birthing from Within childbirth educator and postpartum companion. After having her second child, she birthed another baby: Well Worth Watering, a space that empowers parents with soulfully-curated childbirth education classes and postpartum services. Learn more at wellworthwatering.com and @wellworthwatering on Instagram and Facebook.