Snowdrops, our family favorite is an okra casserole. Okra and tomatoes is also good. The kid's favorite, back in the day, was breaded and deep fried (definitely not as healthy as the first two). Pickled okra is a real treat too!
Okra is also a staple of Louisiana Cajun cooking, so it is common in soups like chicken gumbo, or dishes like dirty rice.
You also see it in Indian cooking.
I will locate the casserole recipe (at least) and post that on the recipe page.
I think that you could grow okra in parts of the UK. Frost kills it, so you can only grow it if the season is long enough. Seed packet says 60 days to harvest, so I would start it indoors, 1 plant per medium sized pot of rich compost, transplant in the ground in full sun when weather is frost-free. The variety I grow is Clemson spineless, it is THE most widely-grown variety (there are other varieties, including at least one red variety). My plants reach 2 meters tall, but I have seen other varieties at our local botanical garden twice as tall!!
. Okra will produce more, and more, and more, as the plants get older, until frost finally takes it in the fall.
The ideal stage for harvesting okra is when it is the length of your index finger.