Red Onions

As I munch down on my tuna sandwich as I write I can't but help thinking how under appreciated the red onion really is. I use it for so much but I can't remember when it was that I ultimately decided to start using it. I certainly didn't grow up with it in the food my mother cooked as my father is a green onion kind of man.

Whenever it was, I have at least discovered the wonderful flavor of this particular onion and I have one in my fridge at all times. I chop it finely to put in my smooth chicken salad. I have never liked chunky chicken salad sandwiches, I prefer for everything to hold together and it is only with my chicken, tuna can have chunks, but my chicken salad must be smooth. I had diced red onion to my tuna (like now, yum). I really enjoy it in a good salad and I made one not too long ago as a remake of a salad I had while visiting Atlanta.



I posted the recipe on Garden Girl's forum, but I never quite made it over here to post it and since I'm in a red onion mood, I'll post it now.

This salad isn't horribly complicated and if you're a vegetarian/vegan you can omit any offending ingredients. Another note is I made this for myself so I'm giving a list of what I did for a single plate.

1 small handful baby spinach leaves
3 romaine lettuce leaves, torn into bite sized pieces
5 or 6 cherry or plum tomatoes of choice
1 small bunch of shredded carrots
1 complete sliced ring of red onion, separated and broken into pieces
5 or 6 strips yellow bell pepper, broken into pieces
5 or 6 Kalamata olives
1 tablespoon of crumbled feta cheese
1 strip of bacon, crumbled
1 grilled salmon fillet
Croutons
Black pepper to taste

Wash and pat everything dry. Take the stems off the spinach and tear up larger leaves. I originally tried this with Greek vinaigrette but thought it was better with a balsamic vinaigrette.

That was an awesome salad. And that ring of red onion just set it off. I've discovered several things about red onion in different capacities. It is always crisp but in my tuna or chicken, it has a spicy flavor, in my salad it lent a sweet onion tang. It compliments instead of overpowering.

I'm looking forward to growing some in the future. I still haven't fathomed the idea of aeroponic root crops like potatoes, carrots and of course onions. I'm still working on that. But you can bet it will be in my raised beds when I finally get some!