Okra

Most of them won't win any beauty contests. Some look like aliens from "Star Wars." Others are as slimy as garden slugs.Meet the wallflowers of the vegetable world, odd-looking plants and roots that will never grace the covers of gardening magazines. Some are so loathsome they've gone underground.Nonetheless, these vegetables survive, thanks to the cadre of gardeners who grow them.Tomatoes, peppers and zucchini, they're not. But to their loyal followers, the also-rans are as popular as the backyard favorites.

The Colorado effort to legislate kindness toward fruit and vegetables has me wondering.The legislation, passed this week by the Colorado House and sent to the governor, is a reaction to the downturn in apples sales following the Alar scare of 1989.According to wire stories coming out of Denver, the bill enables producers of perishable agricultural products to sue anyone who maliciously or negligently disparages their goods.I take that to mean that if you insult fruits and vegetables in Colorado, it can cost you.My question is, how will they know?

TO TASTE AFRICAN-American cooking is to taste the world. African, Caribbean, Latin American, southern American, and even New England cooking. So writes John Pinderhughes, author of "Family of the Spirit Cookbook" (Simon and Schuster, 1990, $24.95), a book of recipes and remembrances from African-American kitchens.Pinderhughes, who is related to former Baltimore City Schools superintendent Alice Pinderhughes, takes a relaxed, familial approach to illustrating a world of different cuisines.