Slow Cooker Chipotle Maple Onion Jam

In between trips this summer I got an email from Loblaws asking me to reserve a day for a farm trip, and just like that the third Food Lovers Unite Challenge was upon me! Loblaws is my go to location for local produce and they wanted me to learn more about the local farmers and how their food makes it from the farm to the store.
Before I knew it, I was on my way to Hillside Gardens in Bradford, Ontario, a farm just outside of Toronto that has been growing root vegetables in the cultivated marsh soil for generations. While there, I got to see the carrot fields, celery fields and onion fields and I got to see them harvesting the onions! I learned a bit about onion harvesting from the farmers and here are some interesting facts about onions:

• Each green leaf that grows out of the top of an onion corresponds to a layer within the onion!
• The onions are ready to be harvested when the green stalks fall over.
• Just before they’re ready to harvest the onion bulbs are really close to the surface of the soil making it easier to get them out of the ground!

When the onions are ready to be harvested, a machine goes across the rows of onions and sifts them to the top of the soil to air dry on the surface before a second set of machines come by to scoop them up and place them in bins ready to be packaged. The onions can either be shipped directly to the stores or they can be stored in the proper conditions for up to a year before being sent out. All said and told, the onions that you are picking up at your Loblaws today could have been in a field less than 48 hours ago!
The more perishable produce from Hillside Gardens, like celery, can go from the field to your local Loblaws in less than 24 hours!
The second part of the challenge was of course to make a recipe using some of the produce from the farm, in this case onions! More specifically, the challenge was to find an onion lover within my circle of family or friends and to come up with two recipes that highlight onions, one hot and one cold. There are a bunch of onion lovers in my family, so it wasn’t hard to sit down with one and brainstorm about onions!
One of the ideas that came out of talking about onions with them was that caramelized onions are one of the best things, ever! …but they require so much effort and work, standing above a pan mixing the onions every few minutes so that they don’t burn. Wouldn’t it be nice if it were easier? Why not make them in a slow cooker? Why not make a huge batch, fill a few jars and store them in the fridge to have on hand whenever you want them? Great idea!
The first recipe for the challenge is a caramelized onion jam, served cold from the fridge! The onion jam is seasoned with balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and smoky and spicy chipotle chilies in adobo sauce! To highlight the jam, I also made a roast beef sandwich using it! Yum!
Another idea that came up from the onion brainstorm with the onion lover in my family was that simple roasted onions were such an amazing and overlooked side dish! The second dish for this root vegetable challenge is a balsamic roasted onion recipe! These roasted onions are easy to make, you just peel and remove the tops and bottoms from the onions, slice and roast them in a simple and tasty balsamic glaze! The perfect side for any meal!

When I went to Loblaws it was wild to see the onions from Hillside Gardens at the store!