Vegan Breakfast Recipe: Hungover Okra Toast

The old Perri used to crave an everything bagel with the works: lox, juicy tomato slices, globs of cream cheese, capers, freshly squeezed lemon. Times two. The new Perri? All I want is a giant hunk of this oh-so-simple okra toast.
                        

First, let's address okra. So underrated! This warm-season veggie, also known as "ladies fingers," is low calorie, rich in vitamin C, and packed with magnesium, Vitamin A and calcium to boot. You can stir fry it, gumbo it, bake it, eat it raw, and do about a billion and a half delicious things with it. My favorite thing is a quick sauté over medium heat with a boatload of seasonings.


For all you hungover souls craving salvation, I assure you, this simple recipe sops up the vodka-fueled pain just as well as any overloaded bagel. Even better: You don't wind up with that overindulgent double hangover feeling come nighttime.

Tender seasoned okra melds with a generous swirl of canned tomatoes and creamy avocado, while hearty black beans soak up the previous night's bad decisions and give you a needed protein and fiber dose... all blanketed over a crunchy canvas of toasted rye bread, and finished with a generous squeeze of lemon for a note of acidity and brightness. Sounds a lot fancier than it is. It also might sound a bit weird, but don't knock it until you try it, I promise it's really, really good. Or maybe I'm just really hungover. Either way, here we go:

Ingredients
2 pieces rye bread
1/2 cup raw okra
1/2 cup canned black beans (preferably no salt added)
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes
1/4 ripe avocado (when would a recipe ever call for a not-yet-ripe avocado? I'm not sure but it seemed like the right thing to say), cut into small slices
1 tablespoon olive oil (for sautéeing)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chipotle
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Lemon wedge



Assembly:

1. Ensure you're sober enough to not accidentally walk towards the toaster with your okra and towards the pan with your rye bread.

2. Heat olive oil in pan. Add okra, paprika and chipotle (and whatever seasonings you like). Sautée for about five minutes over medium-high heat until it begins to brown. Add canned tomatoes and black beans and reduce heat to medium. Let sit for a few minutes.

3. Meanwhile, toast your bread (in a toaster, not a pan). Spread smushed avocado wedges over bread, which has now emerged as toast. Transfer warmed up bean and vegetable mixture from pan to plate. Squeeze a generous amount of lemon over everything. Resist desire to add olive oil and sea salt. Crank out the pepper mill and grind over mix until happy. Eat and take a milk thistle supplement (alleged liver helper) for good measure.