How-to dice an onion

In a continuation of my "How-To Summer Series," I would like to proudly present a proper way to dice an onion. I would like to continue to stress how influential consistent and well executed cuts can make a difference in how your dish turns out. 

This explanation will also expose you many safety issues surrounding dicing an onion. I would really like to stress this since not earlier this week a new person was dicing an onion for the first time at work, and cut themselves pretty bad. I don't want you to cut the tip of your finger off or slice your skin through to the bone and have to rush to the ER room. So, please go slowly with this and practice, practice, practice. Safety is the key here!

Step 1:

Gather: a sharp knife, an onion (or how ever many you need to do), and a cutting board. 

Step 2:

Slice the longer end (not the hairy end) all the way through, creating a flat surface. 

Step 3:

Place flat side of onion down on the board. Cut down the middle of the "hairy" end as shown below.

Step 4: 

Remove the skin from each half of the onion completely.

Step 5: 

Rotate the onion so that the flat end is parallel to your body position as depicted below. Then, place your palm on the top of the onion. Make an incision at the bottom of the onion and work your way up.  You control the size of the dice by this first step. You can do a lot of cuts, and have a small dice; or have less cuts and create larger dices for soups and whatnot. Keep in mind as well that you should not go all the way through the onion. Keep a 1/4" distance from the end of the onion so that it stays intact while you are cutting it. Go all the way through and you will have your onion laying in slices all over the place.

It is important that you keep your fingers straight at this point of the procedure. Keeping your ligaments parallel to the knife prevents them from bending and being exposed to the blade, resulting in you loosing the tip of a  digit or two. So, keep your thumb up, and your fingers straight to avoid this!

Step 6:

A small dice on a medium sized onion should look something like this before progressing to the next step. 

Step 7: 

Start slicing perpendicular to your previous cuts, but from the top of the onion like so. Please note that I am not going all the way to the end, and I am leaving room so that the slices stay intact to the onion. 

Step 8: 

It is important to notice here how I am guiding the knife with my fingers. My middle finger guides the blade while being tucked in to avoid contact with the tips of my finger. My pointer finger and ring finger press down to hold the item in place. My thumb and pinkie are pinching the side and tucked in so that I can allow my middle finger to move freely and guide the blade. 

In an effort to make cuts consistent, the distance of this cut should be the same distance as the previous cuts.  

Step 9:

Return to the original starting position and cut perpendicular to the previous cut. Starting at the top and moving from the cut end towards the "hairy" end cut all the way through the onion. Keep your fingers behind your middle finger to ensure safety. 

Step 10: 

Here is a POV shot of going half way through the onion. Note that the distance of these cuts should be the same as the previous two to ensure a square cuts and to keep it sexy. 

Store in a sealed container in the fridge for later use; or use immediately. 

Broccoli Rabe with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

The warm weather has gotten me super excited about summer recipes. So this entry will explore an easy preparation for a sensational side dish. This recipe is pretty standard within the restaurant industry, so if you ever wondered how they do it – this is how.

This dish pretty much goes with any protein and you can certainly put it on top of any starch, or even a sandwich. Feel free to substitute broccoli, broccolini, or asparagus in this recipe. It works great for all.  This particular dish can be vegan if you simply omit the butter, but I have found that it helps a lot with the bitterness of the vegetable. I’d say to add a touch of a sweetener (agave nectar, brown sugar, even a balsamic reduction will do) to offset it.

Broccoli Rabe

Ingredients:

1 Bunch Broccoli Rabe (with bottoms cut off)

2 Cloves Garlic (sliced thin)

½ Shallot (diced small) or half a white onion works as well

1 Tablespoon Olive or Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons butter (unsalted)

1 teaspoon Red Chili Flake

6 Slow Roasted Tomatoes (see recipe below)

1/8 Cup White Wine (whatever you have left over works)

¼ Cup vegetable or chicken stock

½ Lemon or 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice

Directions:

1. Get a pot of water on and bring it to a boil. Take the raw broccoli rabe and place into the boiling water for about 30 seconds to a minute.
2. Strain and place in a container with iced water (too cool and stop the cooking process)
3. Heat up a large pan on medium/medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot reduce to a medium heat and put the oil in the pan. Add the garlic and shallot and sweat (sauté until translucent)
4. Add in your broccoli rabe and slow roasted tomatoes and toss (or stir) to coat it in the oil. At this point, add your lemon and white wine to the pan and allow it to reduce to almost nothing, creating an almost dry pan.
5. Add stock and red pepper flake. Increase flame to medium-high. Move the rabe and tomatoes around to allow the steam from the liquid to cook it and infuse the flavor.
6. When it is almost cooked (just before the stems become limp) add butter or sweetener. Salt and pepper to taste.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients:

6 Plum tomatoes (sliced into 8ths)

1/8 cup Olive oil (or if you have some kind of garlic infused oil, it works the best)

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon chive

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees
2. Toss sliced tomatoes in olive oil (or at  least enough to just coat them)
3. On a sheet tray (cookie tray) with a roasting rack placed on it (if you don’t have one, it’s no biggie) place the tomatoes on so they are not touching.
4. Combine all spices and herbs in a bowl and then sprinkle on top of the tomatoes. If you like other herbs or you want to use something else, go for it! Just make sure they are well seasoned and you will be fine.
5. Place in oven until they become semi dehydrated. You will start to see them look dry and maybe even start to brown a bit. Once this happens, pull them from the oven and let them set and cool. 

Ramp Whipped Skin-On Root Vegetables

This will probably be the easiest thing you can possibly make that I have written so far. I figured it was time for an easy recipe that requires little time to prepare, while still being a crowd-pleaser. Spring is in full swing and there are all kinds of goodness to go around. This low-calorie and complex carbohydrate recipe will really allow you to see the hearty beauty that spring has to offer.  This is a large yield recipe meant to be utilized later. If you scale back, just keep the ratio in mind. This isn’t an exact recipe by any measure.

If you do not have ramps, substitute the bulbs and stems with 4 cloves garlic (roasted preferred if you have it); and 3 scallion greens cut thin. 

How to utilize:

I chose to serve this hot on a spoon as passed Hors D’oeuvre. Mashed potato bars have been trendy for a bit, so it’s nothing to impress your friends with this dish and pipe it on a spoon with a pastry bag.

You can also serve this family style, I would garnish with thinly sliced ramp leaves or some kind of green oil.

This can also be flipped into a basis for potato pancakes. Add some onion, pepper, celery and thicken with flour or quinoa flour until thick enough to form a loose ball. Form cake size patties and sear in hot pan with olive oil. These go great with breakfast or as a salad topper. However, for the salad topper, I would say to skip the flour and form a loose patty and sear it; if it falls apart, think of it as less fork work.

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes

2 lbs. Parsnips

2 lbs. Turnips

2 lbs. Carrot

3 lbs. Sweet Potato

6 Ramps (with leaves cut off and reserved to the side)

4 Tbls. Olive oil

1 Tbls Coconut oil

Directions:

1. Cut all ingredients in half long-ways. DO NOT PEAL! (but take the tops off)
2. Cut into half-inch sections (large dice).
3. Place in pot with enough water to cover the top of product.
4. Bring to a boil. Allow to cook until fork tender.
5. Strain ingredients and put back into pot.
6. Sweat chopped ramp bulbs and stems in 1 Tbs Olive oil until translucent. Transfer to pot.
7. Add chiffonade (thin slice) of remaining ramp leaves into mixture.
8. Add 2 Tbs Olive oil and 1 Tbs. Coconut Oil to mixture.
9. Using a hand mixer, whip ingredients until incorporated.
10. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Gluten-free Mexican Veggie Burgers

Going with my g-free theme this month I would like to present my Mexican veggie burgers of the gluten-free variety. This is a pretty standard recipe that I do basically once a week and do a large batch of veggie burgers. I also tend to have a heartier style patty. If you want a more traditional falafel style burger, take a quarter of the ingredients and blend in a blender until smooth, then simply add back into the mixture.

Utilize this recipe with pickled veggies, burger buns, and salads. Feel free to create variations and explore what you have in season! I also chose to top this dish with Lemon-Mustard Braised Greens, instead of a crudité or pickled something or other. No particular reason, just switching it up. Will be posting later on about variations and whatnot. 

Ingredients:

1 #5 can beans, pinto (or cannellini)

1 #5 can beans, black

½ c. Quinoa (cooked)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1 Zest of lime

1 Celery Stalk diced (about ¾ cup)

1 Bunch diced asparagus ends (save the tips for something else!)

½ Red onion (diced)

1 C. Pickled veg (chopped)

7oz Chipolte De Moreno (diced)

1/3 C. Corn meal

1 C. G-free flour

¼ C. Corn starch               

½ C. G-free breadcrumb

2 Eggs (whole)

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cumin (ground)

1 Tbls. Pepper

¼ tsp. Celery seed

1 Tbls. Siracha

2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1.  Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl

2. Mix with hands until fully incorporated

3. Test seasoning and consistency with small meat ball sized patty before doing whole batch

4. Using a 3oz ice-cream scoop, portion out patties

5. Sear in non-stick pan with olive or coconut oil

6. Serve on toasted bun

The Alternative Food Talk has been around for more than a week now! I’m truly humbled by the progress this expression has made thus far. So, I only think it’s fair that I launch the first GIVEAWAY ever! 

I’m giving away two (count ‘em two!) tickets to the Celiac Awareness Tour May 18, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. 

Here’s how it works to get an entry in the drawing:
Fans: Share this picture on Facebook with all your friends. Friends of fans: Like the Facebook page and share the picture with all your friends!

INCREASE YOUR CHANCES by using #altfoodtalk in your tweets or in your Instagram posts about thought provoking or hot-topic ideas.

GOOD LUCK!