There's nothing wrong with a good hunk of onion in a salad: it's crunchy, and filled with pungent flavor. However, when that strong flavor takes over the dish, not to mention the next few hours of the victim's mouth, that's when one starts to push those crisp onion slices off to the side of the plate. But there's a great way to have your onion and eat it too!
Soaking onions in ice water for 10 or 15 minutes mellows out the flavor to take that sharp edge, and accompanying aftertaste, out of the picture. It's a trick restaurants use, and you can achieve the same results, too.
Salads Featuring Onion
• Tomato Salad with Red Onion, Dill and Feta
• Roasted Beet Salad with Barley, Feta, and Red Onion
• Citrus and Onion Salad
• Sicilian-Inspired Blood Orange Salad
Related: Raw to Sweet: How to Change the Intensity of Onions
(Images: Emma Christensen)
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I learned this years ago (I forgot where) and it really does work. This trick makes them palatable even to those who don't like onions due to their strong taste.
Yes this absolutely does work. I use it for red onions in particular, and sometimes spike the water with some vinegar.
I second the vinegar, I HATE when restaurants don't do that and serve me raw onion in salads completely obliterating the flavors of the rest of the meal.
My family has been doing this for as long as I can remember. We're Pakistani, and this is a very normal way for Pakistanis to deal with strong onions. Once they've mellowed out, we eat them simply as is with our food. It sounds overpowering if you haven't tried it, but trust me - they'll be mild and crisp. :)
Quick pickling is my fave -- then you can use that same vinegar for the dressing!
anyone know if this will work with jalapenos? I had an amazingly flavored not spicy jalapeno vinaigrette at a restaurant years back i'd like to try to replicate..
I'm with the quick pickling folks. It works especially well if you're doing those jar salad jobbies - put your cut onions in the bottom and pour the dressing over them. By the time you eat, they'll be mellowed and slightly pickled!!!
Hmmmm... never had a problem with raw onions on salads...