Caramelized Onion Vinaigrette

25 lbs of onions and 50 lbs of potatoes are sitting in the garage. The bag of potatoes is taller than Van. My mind is often carried away in thinking of ways to use up all these vegetables. One thing to do with the onions is caramelize them very slowly. Oh the divine glory of caramelized onions. They barely represent an onion at all. They are soft, sweet and savory. They go with just about anything and will keep in the fridge for a week.

My boy Jack wants to be just like his parents. Ethan has a fancy set of knives he uses for work and they are sharp as Samurai swords. I have my favorite santoku that I keep in a knife protector. And Jack has laid claim to a small paring knife in the knife block. When I pile up ingredients on the butcher block for slicing and dicing, he pulls up a stool and pulls out his knife. Since there are so many onions, I let him hack away at one, being sure he is keeping his little finger tips out of the way. But oddly enough, because his fingers are so small and so is the knife he uses, he can cut things so small and precise. It's quite impressive. For the most part, he cuts things really unevenly. But they don't go to waste. They go into a bag and get saved for caramelizing because weird sizes don't matter that much when caramelizing.

Last Sunday, I cut up 10 onions, put them in a pan with Jack's hacked onion scraps and let them caramelize over medium low heat for 2 1/2 hours. Some of them went into some mashed potatoes and some went into a vinaigrette the next day for simple green salad lunch. This vinaigrette has a sweet, savory taste from the caramelized onions and the vinegar lends a light flavor and it isn't too bold. Serving ideas? Salad, pasta, baked potatoes, steamed or grilled vegetables, bread for dipping etc.



3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds black pepper
2 caramelized onions, about 1/2 cup

Combine all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.