Well, I’ve learned something new today. Apparently, there are some gumbos that some put tomatoes in, though it seemed to be a small amount. I was raised by a coonass mother that never put tomatoes in her gumbo, nor did I ever see anyone else do so. Seems I’ve lived a gumbo sheltered life.
Same here. The only times I’d encounter tomatoes in gumbo was at family reunions or maybe an office dinner.
Okra is a fine vegetable. If the mucilaginous accompaniment is distressing, try using fried okra.*
A gumbo without okra is like a Mexican dish lacking cilantro. 
*its availability at Captain D’s is the one reason I will probably return to that otherwise less than inspiring chain.
The Old Coffee Pot restaurant (closed permanently) had a delicious breakfast of okra and eggs. Mmmmm.
I found this recipe intruiging—I kept thinking about it. I love cooked greens and I love gumbo, so I figure the two combined should be delicious. I decided to make it for dinner today!
I went greens shopping yesterday and unfortunately was only able to find a portion of the different types listed in the recipe link, but I think they’ll suffice… I got collard greens, mustard greens, spinach, a big batch of carrot tops, and cabbage.
My version is definitely not going to be vegan…I just put the greens on the stove to simmer with a smoked ham hock, and I’m going to cook sausage and make the roux in the rendered sausage fat, like I saw done on a PBS show about New Orleans cooking.
Will give a follow-up report after dinner!
Yeah, don’t worry about the exact mix of greens — just a good variety of whatever you can get your hands on.
A big storm blew in after dinner last night and took out out power and internet, but I’m sure a lot of you are just on the edge of your seats waiting for a report on how my gumbo with greens turned out, and I don’t want to let you down…
Anyway, it was very, very good. Awesome in fact. Will definitely make again, though it’s a lot more prep simmering the greens for hours. Thought my one kid who’s a picky eater but likes my normal gumbo would turn it down once he saw all the greens in it, but he gobbled it up.
Speaking of New Orleans food, we had red beans & rice tonight. I normally mix together a can of Blue Runner red beans and a can of Glory Foods red beans & rice but the Glory cans somehow turned out to be Dinty Moore beef stew instead.
At least the Blue Runner cans were what the were supposed to be so I used two of them and 1½ cups of Minute Rice. 'Course, a proper red beans & rice contains andouille but my SO won’t let me use that anymore. I use bratwurst instead.