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I love onions. This, coupled with my undying love of garlic, remains a source of playful contention between my girlfriend and me—sorry, babe! Onions arguably have a worse reputation than garlic. Sure, onions are pretty much everywhere, but they’re constantly getting dragged for “smelling bad” and “making you cry.” Raw onions get the worst of it. Caramelized onions remain the darling among onion variations. And don’t get me wrong: Caramelized onions are good. But raw onions are supremely underrated in America. They can elevate more than just cheeseburgers.
Indians understand the power and deliciousness of raw onions. So I like to remind haters that my love for raw onions is in my blood. When I was in India this past January, I was delighted by the tiny, cute, delicious red onions served raw alongside entrees in restaurants. My people. They get it.
But now that I’ve gotten my Raw Onions Propaganda out of the way, let’s focus on all onions. I don’t want to create an onion hierarchy but rather celebrate the underappreciated versatility of this veggie that comes in so many different sizes, shapes, flavors, and colors. Let’s celebrate onion diversity with these recipes that center the bulbous, pervasive veggie.
all that is missing is a good Pico de Gallo recipe with a healthy amount of onion.
– 1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch dice (about 3 cups)
– 1/2 large white onion, finely diced (about 3/4 cup)
– 1 to 2 serrano or jalapeño chilies, finely diced (seeds and membranes removed for a milder salsa >:| )
– 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves (optional)
– lime juice from 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste.
Add some diced avocado with some love just like abuelita.
Also, you can add onion to just about any street taco and it will be 10x better.
For the best results, make said recipe while listening to a Salena album or any spanish tune that will make you dance and sing out loud like an idiot.
ugh yes!! i need to start cooking real food again so i can add pico de gallo to everything
Bless you for this post! Onions are my second fav after sour gummy worms and get such a BAD rap from some folks. Interested in trying the onion tart–baking is not my forte. Gimme some raw onion on a dish anytime <3
Thank you for these appealing recipes. If you are ever at an Iranian restaurant, they usually bring out bread, butter/margarine and raw cut onions before the meal. Italians have breadsticks we have onions.
Onions are their own food group for me, considering how many of them I eat. Thanks for the recipes!
Yum. I hadn’t heard of ramps so I looked them up, and this apparently means I’m not a hipster. But now that I have heard of them I want to find some and fry them up with some garlic scapes, so I can say I’m eating “ramps and scapes” which sounds kind of dangerous and exciting.
Thanks for all the delicious looking ideas!
Tip: If you’re a vegetarian wanting French onion soup, try using Edward & Sons “Not-Beef” bouillon cubes and a splash of soy sauce. I regularly trick meaters (typo, but leaving it) with their “not beef” and “not chicken” bouillon.
Other tip: Onions make you cry a little less if you refrigerate them before you cut them.
Also if you leave the root end intact when slicing your onion.
I’ve never heard that! I’ll have to try it.
I am so happy that I saw this on the comment awards because I like onions quite a lot.
This is a fact I found out after I learned to make Brunswick stew—which has 300 variations so something for everyone, even your cousin who likes squirrel