Arugula Salad with Burnt Onions

Photo by Flickr user lizziecow, Creative Commons license

Lunch update: I'm really excited for spring salads. There's such variety, such promise in spring veggies. There are so many possibilities as to be practically overwhelming.

Lunch today was a big arugula salad with small cubes of smokey cheddar, tangerine sections (the only domestic organic citrus I could find in Whole Foods yesterday--step it up, guys!), toasted sunflower seeds (cheaper than nuts), and the holy grail of toppings, crispy semi-burnt onions.

The onions really made the dish, but they were mostly an accident. Mark Bittman wrote about putting burnt onions over lentils and rice, so I made some to put over quinoa for dinner last night. When I had extras, they went straight into my lunch for the next day. Now I know you might be thinking that burning a salad topping is a bad idea, but you'd be so wrong. The burnt bits added a smokey bitterness that complemented the creamy cheddar well, while the caramelized center parts of each onion piece added a bit of sweetness to cut the sharp arugula. This salad was to die for.

I would have taken a picture for you, but I gobbled it all up before I thought of it!