Quick pickled red onions: four ingredients, thirty minutes

Raw red onion is sharp enough to take over a bowl. A short soak in apple cider vinegar tames that sharpness into something mild and slightly sweet, and turns the onion a shade of pink that makes a plain plate look finished.

Apple cider vinegar gives a rounder, gentler flavor than the white vinegar most quick pickles use, and it is apple-based rather than grain-based, so it belongs fully in this kitchen. A quick blanch softens the onion's raw bite before it goes into the jar, which is the small step that separates these from onion left simply soaking in vinegar.

A true fermented pickle carries probiotic bacteria; a quick vinegar pickle like this one does not. What it carries is real flavor, ready in half an hour, with almost no effort.

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion (yellow works too)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• About 1 cup apple cider vinegar, enough to submerge the onion

Method

Slice the onion thin with a mandolin or sharp knife (a cut-resistant glove helps if you are using a mandolin).

Set the slices in a strainer and pour boiling water over them to soften the raw bite, then drain well.

Pack the softened onion into a jar with the salt and cover completely with apple cider vinegar.

Let it rest 30 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate. Ready to eat right away, better after an hour, and keeps about 2 weeks refrigerated.

Tip: freezing the sliced onion for 20 minutes before you start cuts down on tears.

How to use it

• Piled onto tacos built on lettuce or cassava tortillas
• Scattered over a salad or grain-free bowl
• Alongside roasted meat for acid and crunch

*Adapted from unboundwellness.com by Michelle Hoover*