Onions are one of those universally used foods. It is a staple when cooking and tends to make most dishes more flavorful and delicious. Onions are super nutritious and offer a variety of health benefits to the consumer. But there's always that moment every chef, cook, mom or dad dreads, when they have to actually cut into an onion. I have to mentally prep myself for chopping onions. I will go over the process in my head beforehand and prepare the cutting station, so I know exactly where the scraps and goodies are going to end up. Sounds extreme maybe but once the first cut is made—bam—waterworks. I find myself trying to cut as fast as I can, which is definitely a danger to my poor fingers. The other problem is, like most households, my knives could use a sharpening so they don't really cut as smoothly as they should. They smash instead of cut, which means onion juices spray everywhere and the cloud of onion that has formed around my head is raining my actual tears from the burning in my eyes!
Now, you have probably seen people wearing goggles or glasses, maybe chewing mint gum, or keeping a fan running. There has even been a trend of people using glass pan lids as masks inside a hoodie. All this so they can use their precious, delicious onion, and not feel like their eyes are bleeding. While I applaud the ingenuity, I am going to just save us all the trouble.
The Solution
The solution here is a little bit of a cheat because it bypasses all of the chopping steps. I don't think this makes it any less of a solution, in fact, it makes it the perfect solution. And the answer is... freeze dried, chopped, Thrive onions. Here is why.
Why?
1. They are pre-chopped. (Thank the heavens)
This is obviously the biggest reason for me because I apparently have anxiety about cutting onions. It's also just extremely convenient. They come chopped or sliced so when I need a larger onion slice, that is also readily available.
2. They don't go bad.
I have had too many onion halves rot in my refrigerator because, a) I'm not going to chop more than I need and, b) we just don't need a whole onion very often. Thrive onions last at least 25 years in their sealed packaging. And even after I open the can, it can still sit on my non-refrigerated pantry shelf for months, probably even a couple years before I have to worry. (Not that it ever last that long, I use them way too fast.)
3. You can use exactly the amount you need.
A cup? A teaspoon? A handful? The correct amount is at your fingertips.
4. They retain all the benefits of a fresh onion.
When an onion is freeze-dried at its peak nutritional content, it retains basically all of it. This means freeze-dried onions are packed full of vitamin C, with some fiber, and even a little protein. They are one of the largest sources of quercetins, which prevent the growth of cancer-causing elements. They also contain organic sulfur compounds which lower your cholesterol and lessen your risk of heart disease.
I have had a 100% success rate using this method of chopped onions. We probably eat more onions than we would otherwise because it is so much easier to include them in a meal. And it is a great relief to my stress, and my eyeballs! Given my current onion freedom, I just want to extend this knowledge to anyone else who just wants to quit crying over their onions and start eating them.
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