Cooking Basics: Onion/Garlic Subsitute

Many savory recipes have as their first step some form of: 'sauté onion and garlic'.  When you can't eat either of those foods you need a substitute. With some suggestions from friends and some trial and error, my housemate came up with a mixture of sliced celery and asafetida that is the basis of a lot of our cooking.

Ingredients:

Onion Substitute

• celery, sliced thinly in the same volume as the ingredients it is replacing
• Asafoetida to taste (I use about ⅛-¼  tsp when sautéing an 'onion's worth' of celery)
• Spices that complement or match the dish the faux-onion-garlic will be used in

Garlic Substitute

• celery from the inner part of the bunch (the pale skinny stalks, but not the leaves) chopped as fine as the ingredient it is replacing and to the same volume
• asafoetida to taste (¼-½ tsp)

Caramelized Onions

• celery, sliced thinly in the same volume as the ingredients it is replacing
• Asafoetida to taste (I use about ⅛-¼  tsp when sautéing an 'onion's worth' of celery)
• molasses, drizzle to taste (again, based on the volume you are making)

Instructions for all:

• heat a pan to medium heat
• add butter or oil, again in proportion to the volume you are cooking
• sprinkle the spices on the heated oil or butter
• add celery and sauté until the celery becomes translucent or to taste

This can be made ahead with just the asafoetida & celery and frozen if needed.