Easy Turkish Sumac Onions Recipe (Turkish Onion Salad) (2024)

FAQs

What are the best onions for salads? ›

Red Onions: The salad onion. While you can cook with it, it's less overpowering than white or yellow onions, making it ideal for uses that require raw onion. The colour fades as you cook them. Great for Greek salad, on burgers, etc.

When preparing raw onions, soak in cold water before hand to remove some of the pungency and soften the flavor. However since soaking too long will dilute the flavor, soaking in cold water for 5 to 10 minutes is recommended. Squeeze out excess water before using.

YELLOW ONIONS: The gold standard onion and usually the cheapest one at the market. If you're using a recipe that doesn't specify what type of onion to use, a yellow onion is your best bet. Yellow onions are particularly hardy, and their flavor complex and spicy.

Sure, you can totally put raw onions in a salad without cooking them. Raw onions give a strong and tangy taste to salads, making them more interesting.

While soaking red onions in water for a period of time can alter their texture, flavor, color, and odor, it's important to remember that prolonged soaking or exposure to water can also lead to loss of nutrients.

Consuming onion water eases the digestion process. It is rich in fiber, which helps in the mechanism of healthy bowel movement. Onion is low in calories and increases the metabolic rate of the body, which further helps in managing diabetes symptoms. When consumed in moderation, it helps in managing blood sugar levels.

Simply coat cut onions in a generous pinch of salt, and let them sit for 15 minutes; this will draw out much of the moisture, and some of the compounds that result in the pungency.

Red onions

All types of onions are good for you, but this dark reddish-purple variety, sometimes called purple onion, has especially high levels of quercetin and other helpful plant compounds known as flavonoids. Flavonoids give many fruits, vegetables, and flowers their colors.

Since slicing and dicing releases the odor and flavor, the more finely you chop an onion, the more flavorful it will be. On the other hand, a process like boiling an onion will break down the enzymes that spur the chemical reactions creating a less pungent flavor. Different levels of heat can control levels of flavor.

Red onions are sweeter and great for eating raw or in salads. Yellow onions are not as sweet and are more often used in cooking. There are also white skinned onions that are great eaten raw and in salads.

How do you peel onions for salad? ›

Start by cutting off the top and bottom of the onion, then peel away the papery skin. This will make it easier to handle and cut the onion.