Fried onion rings

[Sharon in Colorado]

Haven't tried this yet, but on there's a picture on the raw guru newsletter, and it looks like the real thing. I'm trying to post it. Looks really good!

http://www.rawguru.com/image/rings.gif


"Fried" Onion Rings

1 large sweet or spanish onion cut into rings

1st coating
4 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. water
Sea salt to taste

2nd coating:
1 cup ground golden flax seeds
1/2 cup ground unsoaked almonds
1-2 tsp. paprika
Sea salt and pepper to season

How to: Take each onion ring, dip it into the 2nd coating, then into the 1st coating and then back into the 2nd coating. Your goal is to get as much of the 2nd coating as possible. Once you have achieved that, gently take the the coated onion rings and put them on dehydrator trays (without teflex sheets) and dehydrate the rings for about 10-14 hrs at 105 degrees F. or until crispy. Serve them with a tangy dipping sauce.

Tangy Dipping Sauce

1 cup macadamia nuts (soaked for 2-4 hrs)
1/2 cup pine nuts
1-2 tbs. lemon juice
2 tbs. soaked sun dried tomatoes
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Sea salt to taste

Add everything in heavy duty food processor or a high speed blender and process or blend till smooth and creamy. Add a little water if needed. Scoop out the mixture into a bowl and garnish it with chopped cilantro and diced red bell pepper. Serve aside warm onion rings.

[Wendy]

I posted this about a month ago, it's good.

[flyinion]

:eek: :eek: I'm a total sucker for onion rings, now I really need to find someplace to put a dehydrator. My roommates are going to kill me yet lol

[FinallyRaw]

oh these look sooo yummy, i love and miss onion rings. i really need to get myself a dehydrator.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I attempted to make these last night. I used 2 red onions as I couldn't find sweet onions and used extra ingredients for the coating.

Here are some things I ran into in case somebody is going to make it needs a heads' up:

1) I did soak them in a light brine (salted water) to cut down on the sharpness. I made sure to dry them well between towelling, which didin't work in a hurry so I eventually spun them around in my salad spinner.

2) I sliced them on a mandoline on the thickest setting. However, there were so many onion rings that I gave up after I was about half-way through. **Next time, I will use a knife and cut thicker slices**.

3) The coating process was very time consuming and MESSY. I accidentally put it in the liquid first and that does not work at all. **It HAS to be FIRST dipped in dry, then liquid, then back in dry again.** The ones that didn't get the first dry dip were barely covered in the mixture. I am sure by dipping it in dry first, it gives the onions a dryness for the oil mixture to adhere to, thus the coating adheres better.

4) When I dumped a bunch of rings in to save time, it actually gunked up the dry mixture. I eventually had to make more dry stuff. ** I highly suggest keeping the dry mixture in a separate bowl and using a little at a time as you need it to keep it from getting gunked up.**

5) Another thing was the little 'skins' that kept coming off the rings. I don't know how to solve that problem, but if I didn't peel them off before coating them, I'd end up with these coated strings all over the place.

6) I started way too late in the evening not knowing how long it would take. Next time I do this, I will start a lot earlier, use bigger onion rings and not use the whole bowl of dry mixture for dipping at once.

The onions are still in the dehydrator. I did pop one in my mouth this morning and it was really good. I think with a few tricks and time savers, it is well-worth the effort!

[Sweet lips]

Sharon,

I appreciate this information - it makes it easier for another person who will attempt it.

Jacki

[VeganVixen]

I made some today with white onions ,theyre dehydrating now ,Ill tell you guys how they taste tomorow!They look great!I didnt have the same problems w/the skins.They turned out better in the begining and the mixes got gunkier and they both intergrated in the end,so maybe you should have a plate for the 3rd "dip" and coat it that way instead of contaminating it with the wet mixture.....

[Sharon in Colorado]

Here's another update: Because I sliced them with the mandolin they came out pretty thin and thus dehydrated into these scrawny little things. Therefore, it is a good idea to hand-slice them thickly.

VV - thanks for the tip. I think the initial dip is just a light dusting - trouble seems to happen with the 3rd dip, when wet and dry mix together (remember making mud pies?). Once it's mud, there's no way of getting that stuff to adhere. That's why it may be good to have that extra container of dry mix to add in as you go along.

There really must be a method to this madness, huh? :)

[VeganVixen]

they were really good,I used my homemade mustard instead ,They were SO good I thought I was cheating!

[jennplas]

I made these a few times already and LOVE them. I love paprika so I guess that is why...
I had people taste them at work and some friends at home as well, and no one could believe they were raw and had no flour!
I didn't use the dipping sauce though... i preferred them without dip. however i can see how they can be tasty with homemade mustard... MMmmm :p

[Allison]

What is your mustard recipe?

[FinallyRaw]

awe man, you are all killing me hehehehehe. i wish i had a dehydrator to try these, i LOVE onion rings!

*salivating at the thought*

[Sharon in Colorado]

Finally Raw - You can still make them - try doing them in your oven with a 100 watt bulb turned on. It works just like those Easy Bake ovens. It may take a little longer, and you may have to turn the baking sheets around a couple times.

I'm having a huge problem with these myself ....

I can't stop eating them.

They are unbelievably good and I can't seem to come up with an explanation for the 'fried' taste.

I'm already mentally preparing myself to buy a sweet onion and make really thick slices and doing it differently next time... OY!

[FinallyRaw]

I was in WalMart tonight and saw that they had a dehydrator for $40. It's a round one and you can use 4-12 trays. Does anybody have a cheaper dehydrator and is it worth it or should I not waste the measly $40? I just can't afford a $200-$300 right now but really want a dehydrator. Any input?

Actually now that I think of it I probably should have started a new thread for this.............sorry.

[Rawkinlocs]

FinallyRaw,

The model you saw at Walmart is the very model MANY of us here own and love! The American Harvest Snackmaster with temp control is a good dehydrator to have and does the job. There are other threads on this subject if you want to search for them, but again, many of us here have it and have no complaints about it! ;)

[FinallyRaw]

YES! That was the brand I saw. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I thought that everyone who had a dehydrator had the expensive Exalibur or something. I'm running right back tomorrow to get it then..............wooooooooo hooooooooooo onion rings here I come! hehehehehe

Thanks again.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Hey, it would be PERFECT for the onion rings because of the round shape!

[RawTruth]

I am so glad I stumbled on this thread! The onion rings title shouted at me.

I'm having a few SAD friends on Friday for the 2nd time with me preparing an all raw meal for them. Last time, they really liked everything (yummy salad, onion bread, chili, and butter pecan ice cream), but they mentioned that they didn't think they could ever give up fried onion rings and chili cheese fries. Now I can do these onion rings tomorrow and surprise them on Friday. Yaaay!!

And, thank you sooo much, Sharon and VeganVixan for the preparation tips.

Now, if I can figure out how to replicate chili cheese fries!!!


I second that request to jennplas for the mustard recipe, by the way.

[VeganVixen]

I sorta "play" with the ingredients ,no recipe

I use roughly 1/4 a cup of Raw ground mustard seed (doesnt have to be raw if you arent a purist)
and slowly mix it with apple cidar vinegar ,some black pepper and a teeeny pinch of salt mix it up in a small container and add a teeeny weeeny bit water if you want it milder.....,store and enjoy ,I think it last for a while

[VeganVixen]

bye the way ,I LOVE MY CHEAP SNACKMASTER DEHYDRATER!!!!!! IT MAKES MY ONION RINGS JUST RIGHT!!!!!!!!enjoy it!!!!!!

[SedonaSun]

I, too, give this recipe a huge thumbs up. But also agree with keeping the dry mixture to smaller batches or even a third bowl. Mine got gunked up after about a third of an onion and was useless.

But, my-oh-my are they yummy! And they're not even done yet! Next time (read SOON) I will make a HUGE batch and be more careful with the mixtures. Time consuming, yes, but well worth it if you're an onion ring fan. This recipe is the first one I've tried that is VERY close to the SAD equivalent...but not greasy! :)

[DevotedWife]

I made a tray of these yesterday. I started snacking on them 3 hrs into dehydrating, and by the 6th hour they were all on a plate because I didn't want to wait any longer. Right now I have 4 trays of them going. I've been eating them plain, but may get around to making some type of sauce. Thanks to Sharon in Colorado for posting this. I know others have also posted it, but I'm bringing this thread back to life because of the tips it includes. #4 was very helpful.

[juliebove]

I was in WalMart tonight and saw that they had a dehydrator for $40. It's a round one and you can use 4-12 trays. Does anybody have a cheaper dehydrator and is it worth it or should I not waste the measly $40? I just can't afford a $200-$300 right now but really want a dehydrator. Any input?

Actually now that I think of it I probably should have started a new thread for this.............sorry.

I got that kind for my birthday. So far, so good. This is actually probably better for me than the Excalibur in terms of space. I just don't have room for one of those. I did order extra trays, mesh screens and fruit roll up screens though.

[juliebove]

Has anyone made these with something other than almonds? Blast it all but they're the only nuts I'm allergic to. I do love onions though. Can't get enough of them!

[mrsalf97]

Where's the drooling icon? ;)

[spiralgirl]

I attempted to make these last night. I used 2 red onions as I couldn't find sweet onions and used extra ingredients for the coating.

The onions are still in the dehydrator. I did pop one in my mouth this morning and it was really good. I think with a few tricks and time savers, it is well-worth the effort!

Sharon,

Thanks for posting your tips and tricks. I have all the ingredients to make these so I will do it soon. :D

[sherahtaylor]

I made these last night, and they were ready to eat this morning. I figured if I let them go all night that way I wouldn't be tempted to eat them before they were ready. So at 14 hours on 105 in the dehydrator, they were mostly crunchy, some of them still were a little soft (the bread part) and all of them are a bit crumbly.

They taste about 90% like normal onion rings - I think the only things missing are they aren't super greasy, and they aren't all that "juicy". The onions really got dried, so I think I'll cut them even thicker next time to keep a little bit of the juicy crunch of the onions intact. I didn't try to cut them thin, either - some of them were about 1/8" thick. I still have a tray left & am going to devour them in a minute!

I also didn't double dip them - I didn't need to for some reason. I wonder if it matters what kind of onions you use? I used white Walla Walla sweets and had no problem with strings coming off.

[carolg]

Sherah ,
#6...you look great at your blog...can only see face however.........

carolg z5 co

[raweater]

I just had to make these after seeing they look so much like real ones in the picture.

I used organic soy sauce instead of water for the wet mix and skipped the salt. The seperate dry/wet dip process seems to be the key to get more dough on the rings, I updated the recipe in my recipe book to use that same sort of dry/wet dipping as my recipe left the rings with very little dough.

Thanks for posting.

[thatoneguy]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b390/thatoneguyonline/Raw%20Food/RawdehydratedOnionRings_April09.png?t=1239410773
I attempted these, but I think I did something wrong. I would barely touch them and the "breading" would fall right off. They weren't crispy at all, they were kind of limp.

I used a round dehydrator (I only did one tray). I put the smaller rings inside the bigger rings to save space, maybe that was the problem.

I think I'll make 2 bowls of the dry mix so it doesn't get gunky.

[raweater]

How long did you dehydrate for?

[thatoneguy]

How long did you dehydrate for?
About 23 hours.

[siren]

They look so good. I have to try these.

[brownies]

I just put a batch of these in the dehydrator. I can't wait to try them. The "batter" taste really good I can imagine how great they will turn out.

I made a few changes to the recipe:
for the 2nd coating I used flax, sunflower seeds, cashews & some oats all ground up in a spice grinder.

[brownies]

YES! That was the brand I saw. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I thought that everyone who had a dehydrator had the expensive Exalibur or something. I'm running right back tomorrow to get it then..............wooooooooo hooooooooooo onion rings here I come! hehehehehe

Thanks again.


I got my dehydrator from a thrift store for $5-10 (I can't remember anymore)
I see them pretty often and buying used is always better than buying new.

[siren]

This is my second time making these and after the first time i changed it just a bit. I used taco seasoning with my flax and almond mixture, so didnt need any additional salt, it was just the way that I like it.

Like others, I didn't double dip either. I dipped the rings in olive oil then one or two at a time i dropped them into separated bowls of the dry mixture, and shook the bowl all around to get them coated then set them on the dehydrator.


Mine were soggy as well, but very tasty. I am having them today for lunch. Next time I will make a dipping sauce.

[thatoneguy]

I made a YouTube video on these... good stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFLQXsjOEHA

- Matt

[adobegirl]

Awesome. Thanks for the video. Can't wait to try them! :)