I made these quick pickled onions for some friends when I recently visited them in Portugal; they absolutely loved them! This is a really easy and quick way to take the edge off raw onions, something I personally don’t always enjoy. I also love the pop of hot pink colour they add to the dish; the longer you leave the onions in the lemon juice, the brighter the pink.
This is the perfect meal you can double up the batch to make once but eat twice. It’s great as a cold pasta salad the next day, which, in addition, will allow resistant starch to form as it cools down.
Each serving provides you with 2.5 of your 5-A-Day, including 13g of fibre and 31g a protein. To make vegan or dairy free switch the feta for a vegan feta or use some crumbled tofu.
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 1 red onion, finely sliced
- Zest and juice of 1.5-2 lemons
- 150g orzo
- 150g prepared asparagus tips
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Herbs – I have used mint, oregano and flat-leaf parsley
- 75g feta
- 1 tin of drained and rinsed chickpeas
- 80g rocket
Method
- Start by pickling the onions by blanching in boiled water for 30 seconds before draining and covering in the lemon juice.
- Meanwhile, cook the orzo in boiling water for 1 minute less than the cooking instructions. Add the asparagus for the last minute before draining.
- Add the onions along with all the lemon juice to the hot pasta and stir to combine, followed by the lemon zest, olive oil, herbs and season with pepper to taste.
- Crumble in the feta, along with the chickpeas and rocket and stir to combine.
- Delicious served hot or cold.