By Randy Graham

This is one of my favorite recipes. Using red onions, these slightly sweet onions turn a deep, rich red color and look beautiful in a jar in the fridge. They also look amazing when brought to the table. I enjoy serving them as a condiment with my tacos, flautas and pupusas. They’re also excellent in salads and on your favorite burger.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups boiling hot water

• 1 cup distilled white vinegar

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• ½ teaspoon Mexican oregano

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1 medium red onion (cut in half and sliced thin)

• 1 serrano chili (halved lengthwise, seeds removed — do not use unless you like it hot!)

• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions

In a glass mixing bowl, combine hot water, vinegar, sugar, oregano, and salt. Stir until the sugar and salt are totally dissolved. Add onions, chili, and pepper flakes. Stir to blend. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Chill until ready to use.

Tip: Add thinly sliced carrots to the mix!

Chef Randy Graham, the healthy chef. Providing consistently good vegetarian comfort food recipes. He, his wife Robin, and their dog Cooper live in Ojai, California. Robin and Cooper are not vegetarian. See his latest book, The Ojai Valley Cookbook, at Amazon.