Grilled Onions, a new bench

I use onions every day in winter – added to stews or stir-fries or just to tart up a vegetable..

Sometimes the onions and garlic get chopped before I even know what I’m cooking.

In the summer, when almost everything is grilled I don’t use them as often.

Or at least I didn’t……

Mon mari, you see, really, really, really likes onions.

He is responsible for me planting a few hundred onions every spring. (The shallots I plant for me, as I prefer them when they the play a more dominant roll in a dish.) He grills a few of the smaller onions every night for himself. This dish was his idea.

I used one large red onion and one large white. If you can get sweet onions, like Vidalia, they would be great here. He grilled them in the same hinged basket that he uses for hamburgers.

We had them as a first course (also his idea….) They would be great as a side dish or (even better) on a burger.

Here is the recipe for the Balsamic Glaze.

Grilled Onions

Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 large red onion, trimmed, with 2 thick slices (1/2″) cut  from the center 
• 1 large white onion, trimmed, with 2 thick slices (1/2″) cut  from the center 
• 2 tbs Dijon-style mustard
• 2 tbs Balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbs honey
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs Balsamic Glaze

Instructions:

• Whisk together the mustard, honey, vinegar and oil.
• Brush or spoon mixture onto both sides of the onions.
• Lay them flat in a hinged grill basket or directly on the grill (risky).
• Grill 10 – 15 minutes per side over direct heat, then move to indirect heat for another 5 – 10, until tender.
• Remove, drizzle with the Balsamic Glaze and serve. Olive garnish optional.

Print Recipe

As long as we’re talking about mon mari….  He’s a bit of a scrounge.

When we lived in Ireland he used to go for bike rides round the neighborhood. He came home with a half-moon, wrought iron table balanced on his handlebars one day. Apparently, someone had thrown it out. He cleaned it up, painted it, had a glass top made and we still have it. It’s on our balcony.

When we moved into our first house in France there was an old bench tucked under a tree that was left behind.

He replaced the wood, did whatever other repairs were needed and it, too, made the move with us.

A few weeks ago he found another bench, broken, rusty, falling apart, and tucked away behind the compost pile at one of the properties he takes care of.

The house is for sale, the owner back in the U.K….. He kindly offered to get rid of it for them.

Looks nice under one of our shade trees, doesn’t it?