Allium is the categorization of plants (by genus) that include vegetables like onions, garlic, scallions, shallots, leeks, and chives. The list includes what I think are some of the necessary culinary building blocks for a flavorful dish. I am happy to use all of these in my recipes and will often interchange them depending on what I have available and according to the preferences of my household and guests. I will seize upon the opportunity to grab any of these when they are fresh and beautiful (and at a good price, of course), however my 3 go to alliums are onions, scallions, and chives.
Onions are one of my favorite ingredients of all time and a necessary staple for any pantry. I most frequently buy white or yellow cooking onions, but will not hesitate to buy extra varieties of sweet or red onions if they look good. Ideally any common variety of onion typically found at the market will be firm, free of obvious damage, and have dry roots the color of hay with no evidence of mold (I use the same criteria for garlic). Often with most of the prepackaged onions at the market, there will at least be some onions that are damaged or not as firm. When I bring those home, I separate the onions that are in better shape for storage and keep the others out to use immediately (on days when I bring home a lot of onions I will often coordinate it with making French Onion Soup so none of the damaged onions are wasted). Kept in a cool, dark, dry place (never in the fridge), I’ve successfully kept onions for weeks or even longer, however I use so many of them, that they rarely stick around for too long.
Scallions are my #1 go to allium for raw applications such as salads (like egg salad, potato salad, green salads, etc) and garnishes for dishes with Mexican and Asian flavor profiles. I will often use bottom of the scallion chopped and add it to cooked taco fillings and then use chopped green stalks as a raw topping. Likewise, with a dish like fried rice, the white bottoms will go into the wok with the other vegetables and the chopped green stalks top the dish. It’s like a vegetable and an herb in one and that makes me happy!
Chives are a favorite of mine with any egg dish or to finish any dish with a pop of freshness during plating. They grow easily in pots and can really take off in a garden, giving off beautiful purple blooms, which are not only edible, but beautiful and delicious raw on anything chive-worthy!
Garlic would be my fourth, but I said I’d limit it to 3, so that will have to wait for another post. Experimenting with different alliums for different recipes not only helps to reduce food waste in the kitchen, but also allows you greater flexibility to use better products in your cooking and to alter recipes according to your own preferences.
Happy Eating!
