The scallions I saw in C-Town yesterday were just too pretty to let sit, so I grabbed thirty or so and decided to make pickles. I figured that pickled scallions couldn't be too different from pickled pearl onions - which I love - and gods know that someone must have beat me to the idea at some point or another. Sure enough, I found a couple of recipes on the internets straight away, including one from the Lee Brothers, who have made their fortune exporting things like canned boiled peanuts, green tomato relish, and watermelon rind pickles to fellow Carolinians who are trapped in the wilds of New York City. I'm using the Lee's process as my base, but I think I'm going to switch vinegars (I'm not even sure we have white vinegar in the house) and change the spices up.
Here's the crazy thing - the pickles only require 4" of the scallion. Granted, 4" is the majority of the part that's normally consumed, but I didn't really love the idea of letting any more of these go to waste than necessary. Another quick search brought me Clagett Farm's roasted lemon and scallion pesto. I barely looked at the recipe, but I did make something like it out of my "waste." It's pretty radically different from the green pestos that I've had, but it has a lot of promise. My plan is to toss it with some chicken and linguine for dinner tonight, after I finish the pickles and assemble the cat's Fortress of Solitude.
What I should have done with the waste's waste was to toss it into the freezer in preparation for making stock, which should be done before too long. Next go.
