A coworker of mine (thanks Sarah!) gave me four beautiful vidalia sweet onions a couple weeks ago. What do you do with a massive amount of vidali onions? You pickle them!!!
Pickled onions are great. You generally don’t eat them on their own, but combine them where you would normally use regular onions. Burgers, pizza, salads, bbq, slaw, etc… below are a couple recipes that seem to work well… although a little tweaking might make them perfect.
Old Bay and Apple Cider Vinegar Pickled Onions
Recipe:
One medium sized vidalia onion (sliced as desired)
1 heaping tablespoon old bay seasoning
1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
In small mixing bowl combine onions, and old bay seasoning. using your hands rub as much of the old bay on the sliced/quartered onions as possible (you can always add more old bay if you want a stronger flavor). In a separate bowl combine vinegar, garlic and salt. Place the dry rub onions in a small air tight container. Before closing pour vinegar mixture on top of onions. Close and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Open the container again and add water until onions are completely covered. Close and store in Refrigerator. You can start eating these 12 hours after initial ‘pickling’.
I have had these in my fridge for almost four weeks now and they still taste great. I put them on a pizza last night :-) VERY good.
Mint and Lime Pickled Onions
This one is GREAT in green salads. The coloring of the onions stay pure white… but when you bite into them the onion ‘sting’ is replaced with minty lime. Someone needs to dress a mojito up with a couple of these :-)
Recipe:
One medium sized vidalia onion (sliced as desired)
1/2 cup coarsely minced fresh mint
2 medium limes, juiced
In small mixing bowl combine onion sliced/quarters and mint leaves. Mix until evenly combined. Transfer mint/onions to small air tight container. Before closing pour lime juice over onion/mint mixture. Close container and shake vigorously for one minute. Place in refrigerator. Shake every 2-3 hours for the first day or so. Onions should adapt to new flavor within 48 hours. Keep for up to 6 weeks.
Beer Pickled Onions
These are GREAT on burgers or, I would imagine, onion rings (still haven’t tried this out).
Recipe:
One medium sized vidalia onion (sliced as desired)
One can/bottle your favorite beer
Add sliced/quartered onions to a small air tight container, pour in your favorite beer. Close, Store in refrigerator. Flavor is best 24-71 hours after initial ‘pickling’. I wouldn’t recommend keeping after 10 days. The onions loose most of their flavor and it just tastes like ‘beer celery’ after.
