Over the past 6 months, I’ve come to realize green onions are one of my favorite foods.
Not in the “if you’re stranded on an island and eat only one thing” kind of way (obviously, as that would either be a noodle (don’t make me decide which kind!!) or eggs), but in the “if you’re stranded on an island and eat only 5 things” kind of way.
I’ve gotten into the habit of finely chopping a bunch at a time, and storing in the fridge in a deli. From there, they go on many of our staple household meals; rice and beans, dahl, David Chang’s ramen, perogies, eggs, salmon salad toasts… the list goes on! They are my most indispensable condiment, and I feel like they’re a quasi-condiment or meal-initiate, in that they’re more real food than say, mustard, and are often 1/2 the mass when I’m mixing up the final bits of many of those meals (they often congregate at the bottom of the bowls, and that is a part of their personality I appreciate).
But, alas, or perhaps I should say, hurray, my family and I will soon be travelling to a land where, when I last checked, nary a green onion could be found. No green onions, no scallions either (see what I did there?).
We’re off to Portugal again for 3 months. Our kids will be in local school, Ania and I grinding away trying to build a thing that is of use, and we’ll be learning the shops and local economy of Oeiras, and discovering perhaps, where we were last was just a green onion desert. I am hopeful, but I’m also super chill on it, as there are so many other things that will be there, that are not here.
So, in our last days, yes I have bought a last full bunch of green onions while I can. I will chop them finely with my nakiri, store them carefully in a deli, and sprinkle them liberally on my heaped and familiarly prepared portions. For soon, new brain pathways will be forged as I prepare less familiar dishes, in a completely unfamiliar kitchen, with quirks and delights all their own. I will learn, relish, lament, and hopefully continue to grow in gratefulness to be able to have full plates here, there, and everywhere.
So ya, green onions. A wildly underappreciated teacher.
