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.