QUICK PREP TIP

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CHOPPING ONIONS IN ADVANCE

On busy, scattered weeknights, we always appreciate a little flexibility, so it’s nice if we can do some of the prep work for dinner in advance. We already know that for recipes featuring raw onions, it is best to chop them immediately before you need them. Given a little time, sulfurous compounds form and give onions an “old onion” smell that can unpleasantly dominate. To find out if this applies to onions intended for cooking, we ran a few tests. When onions chopped and stored for several days were cooked simply, most of our tasters were able to distinguish the fresher onions from the older ones. However, when they were incorporated into a more complexly flavored dish—braised green beans with tomatoes—very few tasters could identify the older onions. So, if onions are a mere accent in your dish, feel free to prep them in advance. If they’re a focal point, chop them right before using.