The Power of an Onion

Sep 26

When you get to this beautiful age and stage in life, you realize the metaphors you have been hearing all your life are playing out every day.

One such metaphor is peeling the layers of an onion.

I spent too many decades of life not liking onions. Likely because I didn’t know what to do with them and when I had young kids' food meant, the more boring the better.

When my grandmother passed away some 10 years ago now, I began to mull over how I wanted to “live her out”, remember her, and continue to be reminded of her daily and weekly.

My first thought … ONIONS … Oh, and PICKLES. And GARDENS.. And HERBS.. And SALADS.

My Grandma Beth knew how to put onions to good use like no one else:

Scallions from the garden, eaten raw with a little salt sprinkled on top
So many varieties of pickles, canned, all with cucumbers from her garden.
Leeks in soups.
Red Onions that were so bright in color that our mouths would water when she served them. Extra thinly-sliced on a fresh garden salad.

There was just nothing like her onions and pickles. And I, of course, had no appreciation for this when she was living. But now with a new perspective, I carry her with me and hold her memory a little tighter by embracing a love of onions and pickles.

I wanted to be intentional about celebrating her and I started with a small intention… a few times a week, fresh pickles in my tuna salad, then RED PICKLED onions served on the side of the dinner salad, then a good onion, thinly sliced and sauteed on a good steak…. and on and on.

From there, I built on Grandma’s vegetable theme and incorporated a “salad” rule in my house for dinner. There was never a night without a fresh salad, even on a pizza night.

What I did not understand a decade ago was the importance of these prebiotic fibers.

What I did not understand a decade ago was the importance of these prebiotic fibers (onions, leeks, garlic, scallions) to our gut microbiome health.

I continued to build on this practice- day to day, week to week. It led me to try new vegetables to add to the salad- scallions, radishes, red cabbage.

My kids spent many weeks and months, and a few years of skipping the onions (just like I did when I was their age.), much to my dismay and guess what … They came around too, just like me. Now, they eat them when they can.

Good things take time.

You have no idea the impact you have on your kids at the table until much later in their adult life. So, keep trying new vegetables. Keep serving up the salads. Let them pick and pick until they see it as a routine habit for you, and in time it will grow on them and in them too.

Like peeling back the layers of the onion … There is a little something new under each layer. Much like each new vegetable, one bite at a time of something new can lead to a lifetime of change and longevity in habit.

Below you’ll find my grandmother’s recipe for pickled red onions that I often have stocked in my fridge. My three favorite ways to serve up this healthy whole food prebiotic?

On fried eggs
On salad
On chickpea or bean salad

How will you incorporate these whole food prebiotics today?

Grandmas Red Pickled Onions

“Niffer, Remember, I doctor them up a little differently each time. You will need a little more liquid, the larger the onion. Always red onions my dear. Love you bunches, Grandma”