Alibi chef Tom Nayder has discovered the secret of eternal life. Actually, it's really only a method for sprouting green onions, and his sister told him how to do it. But we like to make him feel special, so we call him a genius anyway. What Tom does is simple. He buys green onions and keeps them in a plastic bag in the fridge until he needs them. Then, he chops them down to within a couple inches of the root end. He uses the dark and light green parts to top his low-carb tacos, and saves the white bulbs. When kept in a glass with water just up to their tips, the root ends of green onions will sprout again. Tom says he sees growth from the onions within hours, and it only takes about a week for them to grow enough green tops to cut and use again. He cautions not to put the whole green onions in a glass of water; it causes the outer leaves to shrivel prematurely. He says the re-sprouted onions taste just as good as their parents. By the way, the term scallion is often used interchangeably with green onion, but the true scallion is a distinct variety. Milder in flavor than immature (or green) onions, the white part of a scallion has straight sides, whereas the green onion's base is more bulbous.
