I came to realize well into my adult life that, while I may not be allergic to them, my belly just does not like green onions. Or, as my grandfather would say, “They don’t like me.” The thing is, though, I try. I love the taste of green onions. One of my favorite holiday foods growing up was green onion chip dip. But for whatever reason, if I eat more than a few of them, I have to reach for the Alka-Seltzer.

But let me tell you, avoiding green onions is almost impossible. If you like Mexican, Chinese, Thai or anything Southwest, you are likely going to encounter this vegetable. They are chopped up and added to wonton soup, stir fries, dumplings, quesadillas, spinach dip or get this–Taco Bell’s Mexican pizza. No joke, I have had to ask for my fast food Mexican pizza with no green onions. If I forget, I have to pick them off the top–but they have this way of multiplying and frustrating me. I have to look at ingredients before buying them.

Oooh, these Trader Joe’s dumplings look delicious–oh wait, green onions are the third ingredient. I took a Thai cooking class a few months ago and we made egg rolls and spring rolls from scratch, and guess what was in them? Same with the dumplings we made. Oooh, Southwest corn and chile dip! Wait, green onions. Hey, what’s Bobby Flay making? Oh, there he goes with the green onions.

I guess the one saving grace is that oftentimes the green onions are added as a garnish and can be omitted or scraped off before they immerse themselves in whatever dish it is. But as I mentioned earlier, they get tough to pick out, especially if they are stuck to melted cheese.

Then sometimes I think, “Hey, maybe I should try green onions again.” After all, I don’t like raw onions either, but I do love them grilled or caramelized or stir-fried….or, in onion rings. So recently I tried grilling some green onions that we received from our local CSA. Maybe the charred version would be okay to my insides. The result? Delicious, but the same old green onion indigestion or heartburn or whatever it is came right back. So I guess it’s something I’ll have to continue to avoid, and well, there could be worse things to have an aversion to I guess!

And hey, if you like green onions, more power to you, and you can have mine.

Hung over after too many cocktails over the Christmas weekend? Maybe not, but chances are better you will be after New Year’s Eve this coming weekend. And if you are, you may or may not have your go-to remedies such as Tums or Alka-Seltzer (my personal favorite). Or you may opt to cure it with food or, for you hardcore drinkers, more alcohol. A great food cure is huevos rancheros, or a couple of the other recipes we posted recently on Bullz-Eye’s Grub for Guys–“hangover” soup and bloody marys. Here are those recipes….but either way, be safe during this holiday season and always by not getting behind the wheel if you’ve had a few too many:

Hangover Soup and Bloody Mary
Okay guys. The following recipes are for those days when you wake up after a night of imbibing, and have cottonmouth, a pounding headache, sore muscles, and a thick fog hovering atop your very existence. That, and you surely don’t want to put anything into your body right now. Well, you sort of need to, because you need to replenish with fluids and protein, give yourself a jolt with hot sauce, and if using vodka, getting the dog that bit you last night. And believe me, I know firsthand that these both work, as well as drinking plenty of water.

Hangover Soup
Ingredients:
1 carton (or 2-3 cans) chicken broth
½ cup small pasta such as orzo
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Black pepper to taste

Directions:
Bring chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add pasta and cook according to directions, 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat, and slowly add egg as you stir the soup. Add Parmesan and pepper, and serve. Makes about 4 1-cup servings

Bloody Mary (or Virgin Mary if you omit vodka)
Ingredients:
2 cups tomato or vegetable juice (such as V-8)
1 shot vodka (optional)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. hot sauce (more if you like it hot)
Juice of ½ lime
1 Tbsp. prepared horseradish
¼ tsp. celery salt
Salt and pepper to taste
1 stalk celery

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except celery in a tall glass. Stir, add ice and serve with celery stick. Serves 1, but if it does the trick, you may want to have another…I’m just sayin’!