You know what may be the most underrated food of all time? This vegetable is one of the regulars in every type of cuisine that really takes dishes to the next level but it doesn’t get a lot of limelight. It is not as instagrammable as a bright green bunch of roasted asparagus and doesn’t have the low-carb frenzy love like cauliflower, but boy oh boy does it deserve that limelight! Do you have any guesses which vegetable I’m talking about??

Of course you do! You read the title. The one and only: ONIONS!!!

Onions have really only been the star in Hollywood for one scene that I can think of. It is that famous scene from Shrek where Shrek is trying to explain to Donkey his complicated personality and how he is like an onion: you have to peel back the different layers to understand him. Pretty good and insightful explanation of most us, I’d say! Well done, writers of Shrek, well done!

I can’t get enough of them. I loved them chopped up raw on my burritos, sliced on my favorite In N Out burger, and most recently, I came across a lovely recipe for quick-pickled onions that are sliced super thin that are amazing on top of salads, tacos, wraps, anything you can think of! (Recipe for this at the end of the article). They are really helping me bring lots of flavor to my healthy foods I’m trying to eat.

Here are a few fun facts about onions you probably don’t already know.

7 FUN FACTS ABOUT ONIONS:

#1: Onions have been part of the human diet for over 7,000 years! There are traces of onions dating back to 5000 B.C. found along stones from figs and dates from the Bronze Age.



#2: Onions have often been worshipped because of their spherical shape and concentric circles inside, they were thought to have symbolized eternity. So much so that they were often found in the burial tombs of pharaohs because they were believed to bring prosperity in the afterlife.

#3: Just remember not to give your dog any onion scraps. Onions can weaken a dog’s red blood cells, causing anemia that in severe cases can cause death. So make sure you keep your bag of onions up where your dogs can’t get to them.

#4: In the Middle Ages, onions were an acceptable form of currency and were used to pay for rent, goods and services.

#5: Onions are excellent to fight osteoporosis because they actually destroy osteoclasts, which are bone cells that resorb bone tissue and weaken bones.

#6: You know how cutting into onions always makes you cry? Well that is because cutting into onions releases sulfuric acid, which reacts to the moisture in our eyes to create a tearful reaction. One way to avoid this is to cut them under running water, or while submerged in a basin of water.



#7: Did you know that ancient Greeks believed onions made you stronger? They actually ate them as a strength booster in the very first Olympic games during the first century A.D.

Here is my favorite way to make pickled onions. They are so simple and are great on so many things!

What are your favorite ways to use onions?



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