Grow green onions in your kitchen

Two onions from one onion bottom.
Photo by AngryRedhead, instructables.com

A delightful addition to omelets are chopped green onion tops. They have a mild oniony flavor, without the bite of the actual bulb, just a bit more assertive than chives.

Of course, you could just go to the store and get a bunch of green onions and use the green parts.

But my dad, the child of the Depression that he was, had another way to get them. I suppose that green onions were a little hard to come by in the winter in Wisconsin on the farm. So what did he do? He took the top part of a regular onion or two that would usually go in the trash and put it into a bowl of water. In a few days, green shoots would appear. When there would be enough for a couple of tablespoons of chopped tops, he'd "harvest" them.

It's a fun thing for your kids to do, to see something grow from practically nothing. And even better - it's free.

Another thing you can do if you have a little space in a sunny window is plant the bottom. Cut the onion about an inch from the root, plant it in loose soil and keep the soil most, not soggy. You may be able to get an extra onion or two from it!

Garlic chives on the cheap

Garlic can overwhelm many delicate foods such as eggs or potatoes. To get just a hint of garlic flavor, many cooks turn the garlic chives in their herb garden. But what if you live in a condo or apartment with no garden to call your own?

You don't need to plant a clump of chives to get that teaspoon or so of flavor. If you've let your garlic go a little too long in the refrigerator and it has started to sprout, put a clove or two in some potting soil in a little pot on a sunny window sill. Or if your sill is full of houseplants already, nestle a clove in each pot. 

Soon those sprouts will send up slender spears of deep green. When the straws (the leaves are so named because like chives, they are hollow) are about 4" long, trim them down to about an inch above the clove, and snip them into your egg dish or on top of baked potatoes.