wild onions

[Christa Nelson]

Ever since my third grade teacher read "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George to us, I've had visions of living off the land. As a child I always noticed wild onions, and thought that if I were to live off the land that this would definitely be part of my diet.

As an adult, wild onions are often more of a nuisance, popping up everywhere in the garden, yet I still use them as an ingredient for cooking.

There are several kinds of wild onions that grow throughout the US, including wild garlic and ramps (wild leeks). The kind that we have growing around here in south central PA have greens that resemble chives, with small onion bulbs on the base, and often grow together in clumps.

I find clumps growing around the edging of the garden, and dig them out with a trowel.

I then thoroughly wash the onions, cut off the roots, and dice the bulbs.

Today I thought I'd use them for a light lunch as part of breakfast tacos. I make sure to cook the diced onions well in the oil or butter before adding the eggs, as it helps to make the flavor more mild. I also mixed in some fresh basil and oregano from the garden, and wrapped the egg mixture in a tortilla.

Simple, flavorful, and actualizing my childhood vision of a diet of wild onions.

Below are a few wild onion recipes collected by the blog, Foy Update

Wild Onion Tart from Edible Austin (Texas)
Wild Onion Pesto from Edible Rhody (Rhode Island)
Wild Onions and Eggs from Cherokee Favorite (Oklahoma)
Wild Onion and Mushroom Polenta (Indiana)

[Christa Nelson]

Hiya Ross.......i just added a few wild onion recipes to the blog post that might give you some ideas as to what you can do with them