Onion chives are one of my top five herbs. Both the leaves and flowers are edible. The flowers especially have a subtle onion flavor making them both visually and pallet pleasing. My friend Chong Knievel said that in Korea they eat chives in the spring to clean their blood. With that in mind first thing in the spring I chop several leaves and heat them in a quarter size of oil to flavor the oil before I throw in my egg. This is especially good between a sliced toasted English muffin with mustard and a slice of cheese. Lori Pokorny Leif shared her favorite was chopped in cottage cheese. I was a skeptic, but boy oh boy is it yummy! Chopped leaves and or flowers mixed in cream cheese served with crackers goes over well at parties. Chopped chive leaves are classically served on a baked potato, but don’t forget the flowers can also be added to a baked potato or a green salad or egg salad or tossed in pasta. I am not a fan of cooked carrots, but I have been told that chives are also good with carrots. The hostess with the mostest Sara Zimbelman mixes butter with chives and puts them in molds for dinner parties. Sara also turned me onto preserving the chives for the winter by mixing the chopped chives in butter then rolling them into logs and covering them in wax paper to store in the freezer. The chives hold up very well and happy Jill can enjoy fresh chives on her baked potato and eggs all winter. How do you eat your onion chives?
– Jill Kuhel
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