Grilled Blooming Onions
Serves: 3-6 depending what else you're serving
 
Ingredients
  • 3 red or yellow onions (I think red look prettier)
  • Unrefined olive oil
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Vinaigrette:
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice or lime juice
  • 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • Drop of pure maple syrup or honey (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • ¼ cup unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon flat leaf parsley for garnish
Instructions
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  2. Slice off ½ inch from the top end of the onion and peel, leaving the root end intact. Place the cut-side down of the onion on a cutting board (the root should be facing up). Take your knife and starting ½ inch below the top (root) end of the onion, make a cut going all the way down to the cutting board. Make 3 other evenly spaced cuts so you have 4 quadrants (like a compass). Now, make 2 cuts in between each quadrant. You should have a total of 12 cuts. If you have a really big onion, you can make more cuts. Turn the onion over and carefully separate the leaves to look like a flower. It’s ok if the leaves don’t open up all the way. After the onion gets cooked the leaves will open up much more easily. Repeat with the rest of the onions.
  3. Generously season the pot of water with salt. Add onions and cook for 4 minutes. Carefully pull out onions with a slotted spoon and transfer to a baking sheet. Allow to cool slightly.
  4. Preheat the grill to low. I like to have it around 250 F degrees.
  5. Brush onion petals with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place onions (root side down) on the grill and cook on low for 20 to 25 minutes, until tips start to char. Transfer to a serving plate. I like to use a stainless steel spatula to remove the onions from the grill.
  6. Make vinaigrette by adding all vinaigrette ingredients in a glass jar with a screw top lid and shake until emulsified.
  7. Drizzle grilled onions with vinaigrette and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with a knife.
Notes
I also grilled some asparagus, portobello mushrooms and summer squash and drizzled them with the vinaigrette.
Recipe by Pamela Salzman at https://pamelasalzman.com/grilled-blooming-onions-recipe/