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Spring Fling Sweet Onion Pasta

Juicy, crisp and mild yet zippy – that’s how a fresh Sweet Onion tastes, making them perfect for sandwiches, burgers and salads. Mellow, sweet and rich – that’s how a cooked Sweet Onion tastes, making them ideal for sauteing, grilling, braising and roasting. Now is a great time to enjoy fresh Sweet Onions from Mexico and 1015 variety Sweet Onions from Texas. Prices are affordable so retailers are promoting jumbo sized Sweet Onions in loose displays and medium to large sized ones in bags. You’ll often find that the fresher the Sweet Onion, the flakier the skin. Don’t let the thin outer flaking skin scare you, however, use that Sweet Onion within a week or two before it goes bad. Select Sweet Onions that are firm and free from strong odor. Store them at room temperature out of direct sunlight.

RECIPE: Spring Fling Sweet Onion Pasta

• Boil 1 box of Whole Wheat Spaghetti until al dente
• Chop 1 jumbo Sweet Onion into 1×1/2 inch pieces
• Clean, trim and halve 8 oz of Brussels Sprouts
• Wash and trim 1 Broccoli Crown into florets
• Blanch Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli Florets in salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes
• Heat 3-4 tbps Olive Oil with Crushed Red Pepper Flakes and 2 cloves diced Garlic
• Saute Sweet Onions over medium high heat in 3-4 tbsp Olive Oil for 3-4 minutes
• Add blanched Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli, saute for 3-4 more minutes
• Add boiled Spaghetti with 2-3 tbsp pasta water to the sauteed vegetables
• Stir and serve, topped with Parmesan cheese

GALA APPLES

Just about everyone likes Gala Apples, but this is one of those tricky times of year when you can get really good or really lousy Gala Apples. The good ones are crisp, juicy, sweet and mild – a nice snack or good for salads! The lousy ones are mushy. So… how do you get good ones? Here’s the scoop. The East Coast grown Gala Apples stored from this past fall are all-but gone and if you see them in stores still by this time it’s a crap shoot on their eating quality. Washington State growers use sophisticated controlled atmosphere storage rooms to keep the best of the fall Gala crop fresh over the winter and into Spring. Here in March and April new crop Galas from Chile and Argentina are freshly harvested but make a long ride in sea containers to their destinations.

Again, you ask, “how do you get good ones?” This is my best advice: 1) With USA storage Galas and imported Galas always buy them from refrigerated displays. The fruit should be cold. Warm temperatures will create mushy apples very quickly unless the fruit has just been picked. 2) Avoid Gala Apples with wrinkled skin. This often shows up first around the stem area. 3) Select Galas that have bruises and dull skin. 4) Always store your Galas in the fridge until a few hours before eating them (see #1) for better texture and crispness, and be sure to use them within a week of purchase. These steps should help you minimize your risk of the dreaded mushy apple.

To read more about fresh produce in season now from the Produce Geek, click here.