These stuffed onions will leave your crowd crying for more. Onions are a good source of vitamin B6, folate, potassium, and a very good source of vitamin C.
6 medium onions, red or white
2 Tbsp (30 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
3/4 cup (180 mL) medium bulgur
1 cup (250 mL) boiling water
1/2 cup (125 mL) toasted almonds, finely chopped
1/4 cup (60 mL) yellow raisins
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp (5 mL) fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/4 tsp (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper
2 cups (500 mL) spinach, chopped
1/2 tsp (2 mL) lemon zest
1/4 cup (60 mL) goat cheese or aged Gruyère cheese
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
Cut off top 1/2 in (1 cm) of each onion and discard. Trim root end just enough for onion to stand upright. Peel skin off each onion and, with a melon baller or spoon, scoop out all but the outer 2 layers, reserving half the onion scraps. Place onion shells in 13 x 9 x 2 in (3.5 L) baking dish and set aside.
Finely chop reserved onion scraps while heating 1 Tbsp (15 mL) olive oil over medium heat in large frying pan. Cook chopped onion, garlic, and salt, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine bulgur and boiling water in bowl. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Drain and transfer to large bowl. Stir in almonds, raisins, and chopped tomatoes. Set aside.
When onions are golden stir in thyme and pepper. Cook for 1 minute before adding spinach. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until spinach is wilted, about 4 minutes. Add onion mixture to bulgur mixture. Add lemon zest and mix well.
Divide stuffing among onion shells and top each with cheese. Drizzle remaining 1 Tbsp (15 mL) olive oil over onions and cover loosely with foil. Bake for 1 hour. Uncover, baste onions with pan juices, and continue baking until onions are very tender, about another 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.
Serves 6.
Each serving contains: 254 calories; 8 g protein; 13 g total fat (3 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 29 g carbohydrates; 6 g fibre; 257 mg sodium
from "Onions, Garlic, and Leeks!", alive #354, April 2012
Yogurt completely transforms the texture of these chicken thighs, making them tender and flavourful with bright notes of lemon and cilantro. Ideal for a day trip, these can be marinated in the morning and cooked in the evening, but they also work well when cooked in advance and packed for a picnic to be eaten cold. Marinade mentions Marinate chicken thighs for anywhere between 4 and 24 hours. Discard excess marinade that has been in contact with raw chicken. It should not be consumed uncooked.
Citrusy and slightly sour sumac and a touch of maple syrup enliven pickled onions in a perfect complement to this salad. Kale and Napa cabbage stand up for hours to the sweet and puckery dressing, and hearty farro will keep you going while on the road. This salad is sure to be a favourite for picnics, backyard potlucks, or road trip lunch stops. Dressing for dinner This salad stands up well, even while dressed, for up to 4 hours. (Truth be told, I’ve often happily eaten it the next day.) In fact, time helps kale to soften up and become even more delicious. If you’re travelling for a longer period, make the pickled onion dressing as described above: let it stand for about 20 minutes, and then add all the oil and pack it into a separate container so you can finish the salad when you arrive at your destination. The pickled onions are also great with steaks or chicken.
These wraps are perfect for an overnight journey when you want to have something quick and satisfying the next day. Sweet smoked paprika adds just a hint of smoky flavour to sweet potatoes, which join with spinach and red pepper to dress up eggs in a pleasing way. Make these wraps anytime and stick them in the freezer for your next excursion. Pack them frozen and they’ll have time to thaw on the journey, or put them in the fridge the night before you travel so you have something convenient and tasty to eat before you set off. Leave the ketchup bottle behind, and serve them with your own smoky red pepper sauce. Freeze with ease While foil is convenient for freezing and reheating these wraps, to cut down on waste, freeze wraps in a single freezer-proof container. Insert a small piece of parchment between each wrap so they don’t stick together. This will allow you to remove individual wraps easily when you need them.
While sablefish’s texture and fat content stand up admirably to the heat of the grill, this firm fish is also delicious poached. For this recipe, sablefish’s luxurious taste is combined with a light fragrant broth of lemongrass and ginger punctuated with the heat of Thai chili. Sustainability status Sablefish, also known as butterfish or black cod, is a rich and satisfying fish, plentiful in omega-3s and sourced sustainably from the Pacific Northwest. Skin and bones Sablefish has large pin bones. Ideally, your fishmonger will remove them, but if not, before you begin, locate them along the fish’s centreline and, using a pair of needle nose pliers, grasp them firmly to remove. You can leave the skin on for this recipe, which may help the fish hold together a little better while cooking, but it can be tricky to peel the skin away from the cooked fish and discard before plating. I opted to remove the skin first and simply keep a close eye on the cooking time, being careful to remove the fish from the poaching liquid before it flakes apart.