Season-It !

Benson's Gourmet Seasonings Newsletter

Caramelized Onions - So Flavorful & All Onions Have Health Benefits  

While thinking of ways you could add more flavor to food, I thought of caramelized onions. These are so flavorful when done right, and can be used for almost any meal. You can use them as a condiment, side-dish, an ingredient stirred in or lightly mixed-in or plopped on top. This gives you more flavor and a new look to the same dish.

Try piled high on sandwiches (especially good on a grilled cheese sandwich) a turkey sandwich or a burger. Serve along side or on top of beef, chicken, pork, fish and vegetarian recipes. Add to salads whether its pasta, potato, a green salad, spinach salad, kale salad, and adds a nice sweetness to bitter greens. Caramelized onions are so flavorful which is helpful if you are trying to enjoy more vegetables, especially on a low sodium diet. Add them to sauces. Serve over bruschetta, focaccia, even toast. Add them to omelets, frittatas, quiches, and scrambled eggs. Also, a great addition to savory tarts, casseroles, gratins and stuffings. You can flavor-up a baked potato, mashed potatoes, rice, risottos, pasta, quinoa, polenta, cornbread, scones, and make a dip. Of course add them to soups and stews like the famous French Onion Soup and the Lentil soup (from the previous newsletter about Mirepoix). There are endless possibilities.

There are many recipes for caramelized onions and most have salt and sugar added. I never added them, just took my time. It seems like most recipes take only 7-10 minutes, some maybe 20 minutes. To me these are more like browned onions which are flavorful but not truly caramelized onions, which usually take 40 minutes to an hour. These are not hard to make. They take some time but the flavor is worth it. Make plenty as they keep refrigerated about a week and can be frozen for about 3 months so you can always have some on hand.

• Red onions- used mostly for their beautiful color, raw in salads, also grilled, roasted, charbroiled
• White onions- famously used in Mexican food, in salsas, salads, white sauces
• Yellow onions – most popular and used in just about everything and is the best choice for caramelizing. 

•  Vidalia onions: Georgia
•  Walla Walla: Washington
•  Texas Sweet 1015’s: Texas (named for the date Oct 15th they are planted)
•  Maui Onions: Hawaii
• Imperial Sweet: California
• Carzalia Sweet: New Mexico
• Osos: from South America are said to be the sweetest
• Red onions - are commonly thought of as sweeter but they can be very strong. Generally the flatter are sweeter than the rounder ones. 

Caramelized Onions Recipe - No Salt, No Sugar, No Flour 

• 1 Tbsp good olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 pounds yellow onions, top and bottom cut off, peeled, cut in half top to bottom and sliced ¼ inch thick across the grain (about 4 medium-sized)
• 1 Tbsp sherry vinegar or other mild vinegar (optional) or water
• 1 Tbsp #103 Table Tasty salt substitute (or more to taste)
• Freshly ground black pepper, optional

1. Tip:  High heat can make onions taste bitter. When sauteing onions it is best to use a low or medium heat.
2. Tip:  Cut onions as close to cooking or serving time as possible as their onion flavor deteriorates and their aroma gets stronger.
3. Tip:  Chopped or sliced onions can be refrigerated up to 7 days in a sealed container.