I'm sure you won't be suprised that I didn't like vegetables when I was a kid. My mom could coax me into eating a select few vegetables, but with the condition that they had to be smothered in melted cheese. When I became vegetarian, she thought I would probably starve to death. At 17, I didn't even eat lettuce and tomato on my sandwiches.
After a few months of eating nothing but bean and cheese tacos and a wide variety of corn chips, I finally realized I needed to eat a vegetable or two if I was going to carry on with my vegetarian lifestyle. But there were some vegetables I would NEVER eat! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER! Especially ONIONS! I was steadfast in my hatred for the Devil's vegetable. Just the smell of onion could trigger my gag reflex.
Years went by, and I came to develop a taste for yellow squash, asparagus and spinach - vegetables I thought I would never like. Lettuce and tomatoes donned my sandwiches, even sprouts, and an occasional cucumber - but never onion. At restaurants, I always asked the waiter to hold the onion, please. Although, if it was cooked enough that I couldn't see it, smell it or taste it, I wouldn't complain.
All my friends knew how odious I considered onions to be, and none were terribly offended when they cooked for me and I pushed all the onions to the side of the plate. (At least, I hope not!) A couple of years ago, for my birthday, some friends even gave me an onion as a gag gift.
My Sonion, as he came to be known, would never make it into any of my cooking. He merely served as a decoration in our little kitchen. For months he sat there in the same spot, with his sad little face. He began to sprout a little mohawk, that grew taller and taller, and finally wilted over. Oh, Sonion...
One morning, I woke up and Sonion wasn't in his usual spot! I went to investigate, and found that, in desperation, he had jumped into an empty pot that was sitting on the stove! Silly Sonion, didn't he know I would never love him? A suicide attempt couldn't change that.
Six months later, we were moving back to the States, and Sonion just couldn't come with us. And so I built a funeral pyre and invited some friends over to watch Sonion burn. It was a bittersweet affair.
Not long after the move, I was missing some of the food I would eat in Mexico, especially my best friend's home cooking. I had her email me a couple of my favorite recipes - both of which had onion in them.
Ugh! Couldn't I just leave it out?! Usually when a recipe required onion, I would leave it out and throw in some extra garlic. But I knew that I liked my friend's recipes just the way she made them - so I decided to do things her way. I would just mince the onion very fine, and cook it down until it didn't have any flavor. And whaddaya know? It turned out alright.
I started using onion in my cooking from time to time, just for those recipes. But these days, I cook with onion pretty regularly. I don't even curse when I'm chopping it up! Now, I can even share a recipe with you, that isn't modified to exclude onion.
I think Sonion would have wanted it that way.
Cold-Day Lentil Soup
1 yellow onion, chopped well
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup carrots, chopped
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 can diced tomatoes (dice 1-2 fresh tomatoes, if preferred)
2 cups dry lentils
8 cups water
1/2 cup spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced
2 Tbsp vinegar (can add more, for taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
Warm the oil in a skillet and add the onion, carrots and celery. Sautee for 6-7 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add garlic, oregano, basil and cayenne. Stir and sautee for a couple more minutes. Turn the heat off and set aside.
Put the lentils, water and tomato in a large pot and bring to a boil. Mix in the vegetables and lower the heat. Simmer for one hour.
Add vinegar, spinach, salt and pepper. Serve it up with toast or crackers. Tastes great with a little hot sauce!
