Produce of the Week: Walla Wallas

All winter long you pulled the dry-skinner bulbs from your closet or root cellar. Onions are one of the amazing veggies that stores very well in cool, dry places. As such, we often take them for granted. But this time of year we are bestowed a particular treat - sweet Walla Walla onions! Ok, so their main season is June to September, but young white bulbs are starting to appear at the farmer's market.

At this stage, onions are pretty mild, and the greens are lovely sauteed. I love to caramelize these puppies until they are tender and sweet.

Baby Walla Walla Onion Tart

Crust

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbs olive oil

1/3 cup water

1 tsp salt

1. Mix all ingredients together. Add more liquid or cornmeal to obtain a pasty dough.

2. Press into a medium-ish tart pan.

Filling

3 young walla walla onions, sliced

1 clove garlic

1/2 container firm tofu

handful arugula or other green

salt to taste

1. Sautee 2 of the onions and garlic in a skillet oiled with a little olive oil or spray. They don't have to be fully caramelized.

2. Coarsely puree tofu, salt, and sautee mixture.

3. Mix in salt and greens. Fill tart crust. Top with last sliced onion.

4. Bake on 350F for 20-35 minutes until set and onions soft and starting to brown.

-or -

1. Layer slices of tofu and onion, garlic, and arugula. Bake as above.

There are so many things you can do with young onions. Try brushing them with olive oil and sticking them on the grill!

Make a beet and onion salad. Sub in a few full young onions for the large in this cornmeal cake recipe. This is a sweet tofu omelet in which you can use some of that basil happily growing in your window sill (since we've determined it's too cold outside for this herb). Make a delicious panzanella salad with these onions instead of leeks. So versatile; so delicious. Enjoy the spring, enjoy the onions!