I love onions though they make me cry

Onions are like salt, they make everything taste better, but again did you know there are many kinds and that you should pick based on the flavor you want?

Scallions - I love scallions and add them to everything from Guacamole to Orange Chicken. They are light in flavor and can be added as garnish without overpowering the other flavors. You can use all of the leaf portion and most of the stem except for the root.

Yellow - These are the most common and used in all kinds of cooking where you want the onion present but not too strong. They can get sweet if fried as they caramelize.

White - The sweetest so add them to non-spicy dishes

Red - Quite spicy and often make you cry but add a nice punch to dishes, salads and especially good for Indian and Italian cooking where you want a bit of a bite

Shallots - Shallots have a lot of flavors and are somewhere between and onion and garlic in taste, great for delicately flavored european dishes

Leeks - Need to be cooked fully but impart a heavenly flavor and color especially to potatoes and root vegetables

Garlic - while technically not an onion, it is often used with an onion and makes almost everything taste better. I even add it to steaks and of course garlic bread

Chives - While often confused with green onions they are mostly used as a garnish for example with baked potatoes or other potato salads to give them some flavor. Unlike green onions where the bulb is prominent and used, chives don't have much of a bulb and is usually discarded.

Try out different combinations of onions to see the nuanced flavors.

Check out my Roasted Root Vegetables recipe as it uses a few of the onion family members to create its amazing flavors. Red onions are also the base of my favorite Indian Chicken Curry.

It’s Beans Month!

A mix of freshly picked green and yellow beans makes for a fabulously colorful simple dish

Ingredients

Green and Yellow beans

Extra Virgin olive oil

Garlic - thinly sliced

Salt & Pepper

Beans are dead simple to make but delicate so timing is important. Wash the beans and remove both ends with a small paring knife (or if they are very young you can just snap them off), I usually line up several of the tops and slice the tops off and then align the bottoms and slice them off too.

Picking beans (if you grow them, like I do) at the right time is key to really tender beans. You should also keep this in mind while buying. If you see seeds fully bulging out, you are probably late and you will have stringy, chewy beans. Pick them as young as possible but with the seeds just about starting to show.

Steam the beans using a steaming basket attachment to a saucepan - about 5 minutes (no more or else they will get soggy). Let them cool down a bit, if you want them to look bright in color and a little crunchy, blanche them in a pan of cold iced water so they stop cooking immediately.

Dry them thoroughly on paper towels.

Sautéing

In a sauté pan, put 2 tablespoons of olive oil, once it is hot, drop in the thinly sliced garlic and

fry it until light brown. Quickly drop in the beans (make sure they are fully patted dry before you drop them into the oil or else you will have the hot oil spatter everywhere). Saute the beans, quickly, sprinkle the pepper and salt and remove and immediately serve.

Beans don't do well sitting around or being in a warmer so its best to serve immediately. If you have other things to do, leave the saute to just before you serve the meal.

Perfectly picked and cooked green beans (this one didn't have Garlic but was freshly picked so I didn't think it needed anything -- just olive oil and a little salt.

Chimichurri, the amazing sauce that brings your dishes to life

Chimichurri Sauce with almost anything is an excellent weekday meal as it is quick and easy to make and makes you look like a gourmet chef

Chimichurri sauce is an Argentinian sauce that lights up almost any dish. It is quick to whip up and you don't need to marinate your meat etc. for too long in it.

South America in a bowl

Chimichurri is not really a marinade or sauce but really a bit of both and better than most marinades in how quickly its flavors seep into meat and a great dipping sauce for almost anything. If you have been to South America, you will recognize the rich flavors of the sauce that is used as a marinade for meats, if you haven't this is a great way to experience it without going there.

I love Chimichurri Sauce because it is so easy to make and does not make a mess in the kitchen -- all you need is a good blender, a cutting board, knife and the ingredients. You will only use one bowl to hold the marinade which is nice as my wife likes a clean kitchen.

Ingredients

2 bunches of Flat Leaf Italian Parsley

1 bunch Cilantro

4 cloves of Garlic

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

3/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 lime

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (add more to make it thinner)

1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes (add more if you like it to have a kick)

Making the sauce

Put all the ingredients except for the olive oil in the blender. Start the blender at a low speed and blend 30 seconds until all the leaves are chopped up and ingredients mixed well. Now at a slow speed with the top open (not the full lid, just the small opening) slowly pour the olive oil so it mixes well and starts to turn into a past, you may need to blend for 2-5 minutes until it becomes a coarse liquid. For grilling it is best to get it really finely pureed as the meat absorbs the flavors better but if you like to taste the individual ingredients and textures when used as a dipping sauce you may leave it a little coarse like in the picture above.

You can use the sauce to marinate and cook meat (see below). Remember to reserve some for an amazing dipping sauce served with the meat.

Chimichurri Steak

Chimichurri sauce goes best with Steak - my favorite is skirt steak as it really absorbs the sauce and does not need a lot of time to marinate. This is handy on weekdays when you have to finish work and have less than an hour to make dinner. Simply make the sauce as above. Reserve a portion (maybe 1/4th) for dipping and coat the skirt steak (after washing and patting it dry) in a pan. Coat it thoroughly so all surfaces are coated. Leave covered for about 15-30 minutes.

I usually grill the steaks, I cut it into manageable pieces -- usually 4-5 for a skirt, and first sear them at high heat for about a minute and then grill at medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of the steak, usually the pieces are a little unevenly thick so you might do 3 minutes for the thinner pieces and 5 on each side for the thicker pieces.

Once grilled, let the steaks sit for 3-5 minutes before serving so the juices go back into the middle of the steak and don't run out when you slice them.

Serve the steaks with the dipping sauce and sides -- my favorite side is the roasted root vegetables (see recipe here in this blog). If you don't have all the root vegetables, you can make it with just potatoes. I usually will add some greens like haricot vert or asparagus to give it an overall healthy look and feel!