Grilled Spring Onion Skewers

Here is proof that simplicity can sometimes be the greatest thing. Behold, the mighty spring onion. These came from the garden of my in-laws, and they are amazing. They're big, beautiful, and they can pack quite a punch. Not too long ago we were given a big bag full of them, and immediately I thought of an Ellie Krieger recipe I had seen in The Food You Crave.

Her recipe takes a bunch of scallions, with the topmost green parts cut off, and threads them onto skewers after coating them in a bit of olive oil. Easy, right? I added some salt and pepper for added flavor. Then, you simply grill them on an outdoor grill or a grill pan, turning them every so often, until they are soft and slightly charred. I think this makes a fantastic, unique vegetable side dish to nearly any grilled meat, and looks pretty on a plate, as well.

Since my spring onions were way bigger than regular old scallions are, I should probably have cooked them a lot longer than I did. I believe mine were grilled for 15 minutes, and they could have gone for at least another 10. They were delicious, but not grilling them quite long enough had the effect of not completely mellowing out that strong onion flavor. They were still pretty potent! However, I'm very happy to have discovered this easy side dish, and I'm sure I'll be using this technique a lot more often. It's just too simple not to!

Grilled Spring Onion Skewers

adapted from The Food You Crave

makes 4 skewers

Ingredients

4 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes (I used my metal skewers)

20 scallions (I had about 16 large spring onions)

2 teaspoons olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste (Ellie's recipe does not have this)

Directions

1. Preheat the grill or a grill pan over medium-high heat.

2. Cut the roots and tops off of the onions so you have the bulb plus 1 inch of green left. Reserve your tops for another use.

3. Make a few slices into the green part of the onion so it splays out a little. Thread 5 scallions onto each of the skewers, brush with the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and grill over medium heat until they are softened and develop char marks, about 10 minutes, turning once or twice. (If you are using spring onions, this could take about 25 minutes.)