Fun fact about me: I love pickled onions. Whenever I go our to a restaurant like Panera Bread where I know they are available, I ask to add them to my salad. I also love reducing food waste (good for your wallet and the environment), and this salad is a great way to do that!
We had a red onion sitting on the counter that I bought but then had no real plans to use. It just wasn’t showing up in any recipes and most people in our family don’t like regular raw onion, so it sat there for weeks. Rather than throw it out as it started to age, I decided to learn to pickle it myself.
I’m so happy with the beautiful color and the way it turned out!
To make a jar of pickled onions, you only need 4 ingredients, plus some water. You can do it with red onion, apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar. I used this recipe from Bon Appetit. If it’s possible, you should do it at least a day in advance because they will taste better, but you can eat the onions in as soon as an hour. Personally, my favorite use for them is in salads.
Salads are also a great way to reduce food waste because you can throw in whatever is hanging out in your fridge, including leftovers from last night, and make a full meal. Have some black beans or corn leftover from dinner? Toss it in.
I made this super easy salad from a bunch of kale, tomato, shredded carrot, and my yummy pickled onions. I made a similar salad earlier in the week, but that time I threw in a few spoonfuls of a quinoa dish I’d made earlier in the week and ate the salad warm. That time I topped it with jarred salsa. Do whatever works for you.
This time I made my favorite super easy oil-free Maple Dijon Vinaigrette salad dressing.
I prefer my dressing with a thick, creamy consistency. You can adjust the ratio to fit your preference.
I use:
1 tbs dijon mustard
1 ts balsamic vinegar
a little bit of pure maple syrup to taste, for sweetness.
That’s it. Just stir those three ingredients together in a small bowl then drizzle over your salad.
Let me know if you try it!
If you like this recipe, don’t forget to pin it.
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