I had picked up a bag of Vidalia onions to make the onion upside-down bread from the same book and was delighted to see a second recipe that called for Vidalia onions. I don’t use Vidalia onions much, I prefer a sharper onion for most dishes but I do like them. I remember as a kid they were a seasonal item but lately I’ve seen them year-round at places like Aldi and Lidl where I buy most of my onions.
An onion and lemon salad is not something that would ever occur to me but they included a note about how they made it every spring and all the ways they use it and I thought it was worth a try. When I looked it up, I did come across some lemon salads in Sicily that used red onions. Maybe that’s the origin? Or maybe the contributor came up with it all on their own.
Instead of thyme or savory, I used dill since I love fresh dill with lemon and we had some on hand from another meal.
We really loved them. I don’t know what we were expecting but it is rather refreshing–sort of a cross between a salad, a relish, and a pickle. An unexpected delight.
Vidalia Onion Lemon Salad
Ingredients
- 2 large Vidalia onions thinly sliced
- 1 ½ large lemons thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice from the remaining half of lemon
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Toss all ingredients in a bowl with an airtight lid. Refrigerate for 8 hours. Toss again and serve using a slotted spoon.
adapted and updated from Maggie Beaumont (Weavers of the Moonfire)’s Onion Lemon Salad appearing in A Cauldron of Delight: Favorite Recipes of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel and Friends 2012