I’d prefer to suppose I’m the sort of one who will take the time to scrub, dry, and chop the big variety of produce it takes to make a salad, however I’m not. I’m lazy, which is why I’ve just lately been on a bagged salad kick. These kits supply a simple approach to ensure I really eat a vegetable on occasion. I’m not so lazy that I don’t riff on them, nonetheless, and my favourite tweak in the intervening time is sprinkling dried caramelized onions throughout each salad I eat.
Whereas I’d by no means name these savory little guys “vegan bacon bits” or one thing equally foolish, I’ll admit they slip into the bacon bit function with ease. They is probably not fabricated from pork, nor style smoky, however they’re salty, savory, and candy, with a deep umami with the ability to anchor a bowl of chopped kale and cabbage.
Past uncooked greens, dehydrated caramelized onions are the right of completion for just about anything. I’ve loved them sprinkled over scrambled eggs, fried immediately into egg whites, combined into mashed potatoes, and scattered over a bowl of lima beans. Combine them into bitter cream and so they’ll rehydrate to create a beautiful little dip. Pulverize them with salt and also you’ll have caramelized onion salt (use a ratio of three components onion and two components salt).
Easy methods to dehydrate caramelized onions
The strategy for making dehydrated caramelized onions is true there within the title, if barely out of order: First you caramelize some onions (I do mine on a sheet pan in the oven), then you definately dehydrate them. In case you have a meals dehydrator, merely comply with the producer’s directions. Should you don’t have a meals dehydrator, set your oven as little as it can go. For me, that is 185℉, however 200℉ will work simply nice. I additionally used my oven’s convection setting to hurry issues up.
Unfold your caramelized onions in a fair layer on a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking mat or piece of parchment paper. Place in your 185℉-ish oven till the onions are dry to the contact and could be crushed and crumbled between your fingers. (Cease too quickly, and you’ll have one thing that tastes and seems like caramelized onion jerky, which can also be good.) I dried my final batch for eight hours in a 185-degree oven, then switched the oven off and allow them to cool inside for one more hour. They had been good.
As soon as your onions are dry and crumbly, it’s time to get to crumbling. Sprinkle them on proteins, greens, grains, pasta, popcorn, soups, salads, sauces, and anything that begs for a success of salty, candy umami.