Two quick vegetables dishes

It's in one of those simple evenings, when we wanted diversity without much effort, that I tried out two quick vegetable dishes of rather different flavors. Part of the trick rested in the ham stock. The rest was about how to mix and match.


Recipe: Two red and green vegetable dishes (for 2)


Ingredients:
First dish
- 1 medium Thai okra, cut to 1" cubes
- 6 fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon (TB) ham stock (salty)
- 1-2 TB oil
- about 1/3 cup water
Second dish
- 4 oz ham, diced
- 1 small apple, cored and cubed
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 1 TB ketchup
- water to boil the ham


Procedure:
1. Boil ham in some water to remove excessive salt. Set aside.
2. Heat chopped garlic in oil in a small pan until sizzling. Add mushrooms and allow to cook until gently softened. Then add Thai okra and stir. Allow to cook on med-high heat for a few minutes until the white interior of the okra become soft and translucent. If the mixture is too dry, add up to 1/3 cup of water and turn heat up to high for 2-3 minutes. Do not allow the Thai okra to overcook. Transfer all solid ingredients from pot to serving bowl. Save the juice for cooking the next dish.
3. The juice from the first dish should be no more than 1/2 cup. Add chopped carrot and ham into the same pot and cook in that juice on med-high heat. When juice thickens, add apple and stir for 1-2 minutes to cook the apple slightly. Then add ketchup and stir to allow all the ingredients to be coated with the thicken fruity sauce. Serve.