Today’s recipe is one you are going to use and one for which you will thank me.
It is Baked Onions from the cookbook “Garden and Field” I assembled a couple of years ago. The recipe has a lot of qualities we like when selecting a dish for ourselves and our families.
Most of the ingredients you already have. The dish is easy to prepare. It goes into the oven and out of the way while you are doing other things. It has good stuff in it and, most importantly, it tastes good.
Onions and tomatoes are the most consumed vegetables, and the reasons are obvious. They are extremely versatile, being used not only fresh but also in many cooked and frozen dishes.
Young green onions are eaten raw and are eagerly anticipated by all gardeners. When the onions mature, they will keep for weeks or months in a dry setting and are always available at the supermarket. Don’t store them in the same bowl or bag with potatoes.
When you have a bit of time, prepare and chop several onions. Measure them into 1/4-cup portions and wrap each portion in wax paper or plastic wrap; then put several of these individual packets in a plastic freezer bag. When you need 1/4 cup (or whatever) of chopped onions for a recipe, they are waiting for you, already chopped and measured.
Onions are low in calories, not especially grown for food value, but are very high in flavor. Sometimes they are eaten fresh just as “onions,” but much more often they are part of many stews, soups, casseroles, etc. It would be hard to run a kitchen without onions.
Growing onions is easy. Soon you will see “onion sets” – or scallions, as they are also called in garden shops. These “sets” are small onion plants which have not yet formed a fat bulb at the base. You put them into your garden and allow them to grow to salad size. Even if you do not normally grow vegetables, a pot of these onion sets and their later size will be welcomed in your kitchen for salads and to be eaten by themselves (probably with salt) as an accent to your luncheon or dinner plate.
Here is the onion recipe. It will be a good choice for this or any – Sunday Dinner.
Baked Onions
4 to 6 large onions, peeled
1/4 cup butter or margarine
Brown sugar to taste
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Paprika and parsley (sprinkling of each)
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse onions, cut off the hard root, the dry top and one layer of peel. Place in a bake-and-serve pan, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and bake 1 ½ hours.
While onions bake, combine the butter, sour cream, lemon juice and brown sugar.
Spread mixture over onions, then return onions to oven for a few minutes to heat the sauce.
Sprinkle with the paprika and parsley to serve. Allow one onion per serving.
Dear Readers:
People tell me they enjoy the Sunday Dinner column. Please send your recipes and/or church-published cookbooks to Sunday Dinner, The Baptist Courier, 100 Manly Street, Greenville, SC 29601. – Juanita Garrison