As you cruise the marketplace looking for fresh, healthy and quick ways to incorporate more produce into your meals, stop and smell the onions.

Onions not only provide flavor and texture to dishes, they also provide health-promoting phytochemicials as well as nutrients. Another plus: Onions are low in calories. A 1/2-cup serving of chopped raw onions has just 30 calories.

According to the National Onion Association, the domestic spring/summer fresh onion crop will be available to retailers March through August. These onions’ thin, light-colored skins distinguish them from the storage variety, which have thick, dark-colored, multiple layers of skin (available August through April). The spring/summer fresh onion crop is available in yellow, red and white.

Spring/summer fresh onions are crisp and have a mild flavor. Some varieties are referred to as sweet onions. Being higher in water content than the storage varieties, the fresh delicate taste makes them the ideal choice for salads, salsas or any lightly cooked or grilled dish.
The following blooming onion recipe can be baked or grilled and is a quick and healthy alternative to the battered and fried version.
For more recipes, send a stamped, self-addressed, business-size envelope to the National Onion Association, Department 106-F, 822 7th Street, Suite 510, Greeley, CO 80631 or visit www.onions-usa.org.

• Herbed Onion Bloom
1 large onion (3 – 3 1/2 inches wide)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 teaspoon dried thyme or oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parsley or paprika (optional)

Cut about 1/2-inch off top of onion; peel onion. Cut onion into 12 to 16 vertical wedges, leaving root base intact. Set bloomed onion on 14 x 10-inch foil piece. Top onion with butter, thyme or oregano, rosemary and salt and pepper, to taste. Wrap foil around seasoned bloom and pinch edges together tightly.

To bake: Place wrapped onion upright in baking pan. Bake at 425ºF 30 minutes, or until tender and cooked but “petals” still have body and stand upright. If desired, sprinkle with minced parsley or paprika. Baked wrapped onion may be held in warm location for up to 1 hour before serving.

To grill: Place wrapped onion on rack over medium heat in barbeque grill and grill 25 to 35 minutes or until juicy and tender.
Makes 1 serving

Per serving: About 75 calories, 1g protein, 10g carbohydrate, 4g fat, 45% calories from fat, 0mg cholesterol, 5mg sodium, 2g fiber.
Recipe and image provided by the National Onion Association.

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