Seasonal ingredient of the week: Onions

IN SEASON: September - March

A staple in most kitchens, onions are part of the lily family along with garlic, shallots and leeks. We start so many meals with an onion - pretty much anything we cook in a pan. Soups, stews, stocks, pasta sauces and curries all benefit from their flavour. If we’re roasting veg, we tend to throw an onion in (possibly our favourite way to cook them) and in the right setting, thinly sliced raw red onion adds great flavour to salads and sandwiches.

As for health benefits, they’re rich in flavanoids, which have both an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. They’re also rich in fibre, particularly prebiotic fibre, a non-digestible type of fibre that is really important to gut health.

TIPS:

- Less of a tip, more of an opinion but we always choose red onion instead of white onion if using it raw. The flavour is much less overpowering and a little sweeter.

- Shallots are a bit more tedious to peel, but offer a sweeter, milder flavour. Try them in place of inion in dressings or salsa.

- The part of the onion that makes you cry is at the end (the ‘hairy’ bit). Either cut this out first and throw away, or cut the onion whilst keeping this intact until the end to avoid crying

Recipe:

SWEET ONION VINAIGRETTE
Serves 2

• Ingredients

  - 1 large sweet onion (or 2 shallots)

  - 1⁄4 cup lemon juice

  - 3 garlic cloves

  - 1⁄4 cup white wine vinegar

  - 3tbsp olive oil

  - 1tbsp Dijon mustard

  - 1⁄2 tsp maple syrup

  - 1⁄2 tsp sea salt

  - 1⁄2 tsp black pepper

• Method

  1. Slice and grill your onion

  2. Meanwhile, add all the ingredients except the onion to a food processor and blend until smooth

  3. Add the grilled onion to the vinaigrette and leave to stand at room temperature for 1 hour so that flavours blend

  4. Serve over grilled or roasted veg