Baked Onion Rings

I’ve been on a detox for the last few days, and the irony of this is that I seem to think about food much more than usual. There are benefits to this, of course: I’m much more mindful of what I eat and when I’m hungry. There are also downsides: I tend to eat my alkalizing broth green soup while watching an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. For some reason, I like to watch them make greasy, fried food, even if I don’t really crave it! So when I remembered I’d made the most delicious and crispy onion rings the night before I left Montreal, I knew I had to whip out the pictures to live vicariously – through my past self? And I thought I might as well share them with you too, since this recipe is delicious and easy.

I found the recipe on Tastespotting, as I usually do when I look for a new dish to make. It’s originally from Comfort of Cooking, and is unique in that it uses Ritz crackers for the breading. I’ve tried to make onion rings once before using only breadcrumbs, and it failed miserably – they were soggy and the coating fell off. The crackers are genius! The rings were crispy and the coating stayed on the onion. Yum yum yummo. Here’s the recipe.

Another note: I can’t imagine how much nicer these would have been, had I been able to cut actual rings. Unfortunately, I’d used half of the onion previously so I made Onion Half-Moons instead. The flavour was exactly the same, I promise.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Vidalia onion
  • 2 cups Ritz crackers
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp flour
  • 1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper

*I halved the recipe since that’s what I had on hand! It made enough for two people. Feel free to consult the original recipe if you want the original quantities.

Crush the Ritz crackers in a large plastic bag, using the closest rolling pin, mallet, or source of brute strength.

Mix together the buttermilk, the tbsp of flour, salt & pepper. It should be gloopy!

Then set up your little assembly line: toss the onion slices in the rest of the flour, then dunk them in the buttermilk mixture, then into the cracker crumbs, then slide them on the baking sheet.

Om nom nom. Then cook em’ at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle some more salt, and serve with a little Greek yogurt. Die of happiness. Repeat.

Enjoy!

xoxo,