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Our recipe newsletter was such a hit last year, we've decided to share other tasty dishes you can enjoy with your freshly harvested onions. Whether eaten raw, cooked, or caramelized, onions add zip to appetizers, salads, sides, main dishes, and even desserts! Read on for some mouth-watering recipes. 

Bruce "Onionman" Frasier

P.S. The recipes and photos featured below are courtesy of the National Onion Association. For other savory onion dishes, visit the recipe section of our Web site.

Sweet Onion Veggie Salad

• 1 large or 2 small red onions, cut into wedges (about 2-1/2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup julienne pared jicama
• 2 quarts assorted salad greens
• 1/2 bunch fresh chives
• 1 cup fresh or frozen edamame, shelled
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and julienned

For Margarita Dressing:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 teaspoons honey mustard
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Margarita Dressing: Combine olive oil, lime juice, honey mustard, and sugar.

Sauté onions gently in oil over medium heat for 6 minutes or until crisp-tender. Combine onions, corn, jicama, edamame, and bell pepper in bowl. Pour Margarita Dressing over and toss lightly. Chill until ready to serve. Portion over greens in salad bowl, or on individual plates. Top with whole chives. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Crispy Barbecue Onions  

• One pound onions, red or yellow, cut into 1/8-inch rings
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons paprika

Mix all dry ingredients together to make seasoned flour. 

Toss the onion slices in the seasoned flour, separating the rings. Deep-fry them in oil at 365 degrees until crispy and dark brown. Drain well. Makes 16 servings.

• 5 cups onions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 dash cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup ham, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup low fat Swiss cheese, grated
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 9-inch unbaked pie shell
• 1 cup milk

Sauté onions in olive oil until tender and translucent. Add ham and grated cheese. Combine sugar and flour with seasonings, and add to slightly beaten eggs. Add milk to egg mixture. Put sautéed onion, ham, and cheese in a pie shell; pour milk and egg mixture over onions. Bake in pre-heated oven at 425 degrees for 35 minutes, or until custard is set and golden brown. Serve warm. An updated classic from the 1950s, this pie can be served as a light meal or savory side.

Caramelized Secret Chocolate Cake  

David Risner lives in Mount Pleasant, Texas, and has been a Dixondale customer since 2007. We always enjoy photos of his beautiful onion crops.

David grows classic yellow 1015 short-day onions, perfect for his region of northeast Texas. Below is pictured his impressive 2009 crop displayed for sale at a local market. Now that's a lot of onions! Note how he's left the leaves on this batch, making them perfect for braiding later on.

His grandson, Ben (pictured here) shows off his own prizewinning onions from several years back, for which he won both First Place and Best of Show at the local County Fair! 

Once you've harvested your onions, they'll need to be stored until you're ready to eat them. Here are a few products that will help you keep them fresh.

Our own Wallace Martin (Wally) was honored recently at the 7290 Traffic Net annual summer picnic for his service as an Traffic Net Ham Radio operator. Mr. Martin has been serving as an independent public operator over 50 years.

For anyone out there wanting to get in touch with him, Mr. Martin's call letters are W5WXI.  

The 7290 Traffic Net is an independent, public service traffic net operating on or about 7290 kHz, and has been in continuous operation since 1953, handling formal written traffic, informal messages, and operating extended sessions during emergencies or special needs. For more information, visit 7290trafficnet.org.

A: Once the tops of your onion plants have fallen over, pull the onions out of the ground and let them dry in the garden for a few days. It's a good idea to cover the bulb of one onion with the top of another to prevent sunscald.

When you remove your onions from the field, they need to be dried (cured). Onions intended for storage should be dried well outside, under sheds (see photo), or in a cool indoor location. Never let a decayed onion
touch another, because the decaying process will spread. Do not leave the onions outside in the field when it's going to rain, because that will delay the drying process.

If you ever smell onions after you mow your lawn, that means you've encountered the native wild onion, a.k.a. Allium canadense. You may also know this common weed, which grows throughout most of North America, as meadow garlic or wild garlic -- but it has the pungent aroma and taste of onions, whatever the name. These small bulbs were once part of the diet of many Native American tribes. 

As the largest and oldest onion plant farm in the U.S., Dixondale Farms offers a wide selection of top-quality, disease-free, ready-to-plant onion plants. To see our complete product line, request a catalog, or for growing tips and cultural information, visit our Web site. We're also available from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM CT at 877-367-1015, or e-mail us at customerservice@dixondalefarms.com.

Whether you're planting one bunch or thousands of acres, we're committed to your success.

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