By Shannon Harts
Onions may make some people cry, but the flavors they can bring to many dishes certainly inspire joy as well!
Something else to be glad about: onions can be stored over the winter and can be found at farmers’ markets and from local farms even when they are not freshly harvested often during New York’s summer and fall months.
What’s more, onions offer many nutritional benefits (Source: livescience.com/45293-onion-nutrition.html). These include being a rich source of vitamin C. They also offer flavonoids, which give many fruits and veggies their colors in addition to reducing the risk of some conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to some studies. The recognizable scent and sweetness of onions also make them one of the most significant sources of antioxidants for people worldwide! (Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12410539/).
Onions are a particularly valuable crop in New York as farmers in the state produce about 97% of the onions grown in the Northeast (Source: cvp.cce.cornell.edu/crop.php?id=20). In fact, New York ranks 6th in the nation for onion production!
If you are ready to get chopping and cooking with these tasty and nutritious bulbs, check out the recipes below:
Grilled Spring Onions and Asparagus with Mustard Vinaigrette
Roasted Pork Loin with Red Onion and Bacon Jam
