Pickled Red Onions

Everyone can agree that all burgers and sandwiches needs contrast in flavor and texture. After all, that is why people put pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, or any other toppings. Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this three ingredient recipe, they simply take very little time to make while adding so much texture and flavor to any burger or sandwich.

There are two ways to measure the water and vinegar, which will be doing the pickling.

The first is to fill an empty mason jar about a third of the way up with vinegar and then fill up another third with water. This is to anticipate the onions which will naturally make the mixture rise to the top.

The second is to fill the jar with the onions first and then fill halfway with vinegar and then the rest with water, then crack the lid and pour out the measured amount of water.

Either way pour the water and vinegar mix into a pot or saucepan and mix in a big pinch of salt. When it comes to a boil, pour into the mason jar that is filled with the onions. 

Cover and let sit at room temperature for about an hour, or until they are not too hot to handle. Place in the fridge for a few hours or  overnight, and enjoy!

How to cut the onions:

1. Have the stems to the right and left, and then cut them off.

2. Turn the onion so that the stems are in front and away from you and then make a cut like if there were two stacked slices of bread you would be cutting in between them.

3. Now that it is cut in half, have the stems in front and away from you like it was in the beginning of step two, but now it is flat on the bottom.

4. Cut with the lines and from the stems (technically from root to stem) to your desired thickness and you should have nice little strips.

You do not really need to cut them this way if it is too confusing (easy, but hard to put into words so there are pictures), but this way, they are better. It is a little hard to explain, but if you cut them like an onion ring and you lay them flat on a cutting board then they are raised in the air, with less onion touching the board, but this way they are less in the air and touching the board more. This makes it better for putting them on a sandwich, but it doesn't matter too much.

When you cut the onions also make sure that you cut out the hard stem part ( I don't really know what its called) because you will not be cooking and softening it.

In the right/ last picture, you can see the nice strips that come from this way of cutting. A large onion works the best, and if you don't want to use the sides that are more like chips than slices, that's fine (I don't use them).

Notes:

If you want to add other spices, you can add mustard power, cumin, a pre mixed spice into the liquid with the salt or a chopped spicy pepper for some heat added to the onions before you pour over the liquid.

Half of a large onion fits well into a 1 1/2 cup mason jar (it might be 2 cups, but is labeled to 1 1/2).