In season: Time for green garlic, spring onions

Spring onions and green garlic are showing up in our stores now, eagerly anticipated by those who love their alliums. But before describing delicious ways to use them, let's be sure just what we're talking about.

Are scallions, green onions, and spring onions all different?

Scallions and green onions are two names for the same thing, and that “thing” is either a variety of onion that doesn't make a bulb at its base or a bulb-forming onion that is harvested young, before it bulbs up.

The difference in nomenclature is regional rather than horticultural. In the East, these useful little onions are called scallions and out here, people tend to call them green onions. We couldn't have Mexican or Asian cooking without them. As for flavor, the green part of green onions has a mild onion flavor, while the white part is a little more intense.

Here's a little trick that can save you a few bucks. Chop the green part only of your green onions, just until you are almost but not quite at the white part. Then place the onion root down in a glass of water on your kitchen windowsill and within a few days, it will begin to regrow the green top. Change the water every couple of days to keep it fresh. When the green top grows back, chop again to add to soups or scrambled eggs, or griddle along with carne asada or fajitas. And you can either cook them or sprinkle them raw on tacos.

Spring onions are regular bulbing onions - yellow, white, or red - that are planted in the late fall and harvested in early spring when they are just beginning to form bulbs. So the root ends of spring onions are swollen to around two to two-and-a-half inches.

Spring onions aren't as intense as fully grown onions but have more onion intensity than green onions.

In years when I'm ambitious enough to clean up the gas grill early in the spring, it's hard to beat spring onions cooked on the grill. In years when I'm my typical lazy self, I lay them on a baking sheet and broil them in the oven, turning them every few minutes so they cook evenly.

Spring onions are sweet and mellow but their green tops, while edible, are more intense and tougher than green onions. Besides grilling and broiling, spring onions can be roasted whole. They make a fine addition to hearty stews.

Just to keep us confused, green onions are called spring onions in Canada and the U.K, and are called cebollita Cambray in Mexico.

Now about green garlic, which will soon show up in our markets. Grab them, because they won't be in the markets for long. Last fall, the farmer reduced a head of mature garlic to its individual cloves and planted them. Then over the winter, the cloves sprouted and grew a few inches of green tops.

As spring arrived, the tops elongated and the plant started to enlarge the stem just above the root. At harvest, the enlarged part of the stem is about an inch to an inch-and-a-half wide. There's no peeling needed with green garlic as they haven't formed husk-covered cloves yet. Just slice or chop like an onion.

When you buy green garlic, make sure the leaves are tender and fresh-looking, because they are edible and mildly garlicky. The enlarged part is less spicy than mature garlic. The whole plant, minus any roots, can be cooked or used raw, like green onions.

Later in the spring, the maturing garlic plants will send up a flower scape - a long, curly, slender stem with a packet of unopened flower buds at the tip. If you find these scapes in the market, they should be young and tender, because the scapes get tough as they age.

When the flower buds open, that's the farmer's signal to harvest the bulbs.

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This spring variation of pesto is mild and elegant, as opposed to ordinary pesto's more intense flavor. It's a wonderful topping for homemade gnocchi, ravioli or other pasta on which you'd use regular pesto, and as a spread for chicken sandwiches.

Green Garlic and Avocado Pesto

Makes about 3 cups

1 cup loosely packed basil leaves

3 green garlic plants

1 avocado, halved

¼ cup pine nuts

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

- Pinch sea salt

Rough chop the green garlic. De-seed and scrape the flesh from the avocado halves. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend into a smooth paste. Use immediately.

If saving some, place in a small container, sprinkle top with lemon juice, and cover tightly with a piece of cling wrap to seal the surface to prevent discoloration. Refrigerate up to three days.

Jeff Cox is a Kenwood-based food and garden writer. You can reach him at jeffcox@sonic.net.