Seasonal Produce: Green Onions

Green onions, spring onions, scallions-what do you call long, thin onions with white bases and edible green tops? Most recipes use green onions and scallions interchangeably, yet there is a slight difference. Both are immature, mild-tasting onions that are harvested before full-grown bulbs form.

Scallions are a bit younger and milder with straight white bases while green onions are left in the ground longer to form miniature bulbs. Although available year-round, green onions and scallions are abundant in the spring and summer-thus their name of spring onions. Usually eaten raw or briefly cooked to retain their delicate texture and flavor, green onions are an ideal addition to spring meals.

Purchasing Green Onions

• Select bunches of green onions that have firm white bases and crisp, bright green tops.
• Remove rubber bands from the bunches. Refrigerate green onions in a plastic bag for up to 5 days.
• Store green onions away from odor-absorbing foods, such as mushrooms, to prevent them from tasting like onions.

Preparing Green Onions

• Trim off the roots and wash thoroughly under cold running water. Remove any wilted, slimy or discolored layers of green tops.
• Green onions can be used whole, cut crosswise into thin slices, chopped or cut diagonally into 1- or 2-inch pieces.
• Both the white bases and green tops can be served raw or cooked, although the green tops cook more quickly than the white bases.

Green Onion Nutrition

• These onions are low in calories and very low in sodium, and fat free.