Recipe of the week: chargrilled spring onions with feta and lemon
This is an easy dish you can throw together

It’s an easy dish, this one, says Ella Risbridger – the kind you can throw together while you’re in the middle of making something else. It can make an exciting side dish for four people, or a feast for one person.
Ingredients
- Bunch of spring onions
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp smoked sea salt
- 1 tbsp mint leaves (basil, coriander and parsley would also work well, but do not use dried mint)
- 2 tbsp (30g)
- crumbled white cheese (feta, probably, but ricotta is also great here; or try burrata for decadence)
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
Method
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
- Wash your spring onions, and slice them in half lengthwise. You want them narrow and tangly. Zest the lemon. (Don’t even try with the zesting side of a box grater – just use the smallest grating one that isn’t a faff.)
- Take a griddle pan, and stick it over a medium-high heat. Turn the extractor fan on.
- In a large bowl, toss the onions with the zest, olive oil and salt, then throw them into the smoking pan. Cook for 3-4 mins, turning until charred and blackened.
- Chop the mint finely: you should use a big knife, and see-saw it through the leaves. The knife should pivot, with your hand holding it down at the handle end, as you rock it up and down.
- Return the onions to the bowl and toss with the cheese, mint and chilli. Serve immediately as a side or just, possibly, as a feast for one from the bowl with a fork.
Taken from The Year of Miracles by Ella Risbridger, published by Bloomsbury at £22. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £17.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Democrats: The 2028 race has begun
Feature Democratic primaries have already kicked off in South Carolina
-
The Pentagon's missing missiles
Feature The U.S. military is low on weapons. Can it restock before a major conflict breaks out?
-
Rescissions: Trump's push to control federal spending
Feature The GOP passed a bill to reduce funding for PBS, NPR and other public media stations
-
The Coldplay kiss cam affair: a cautionary tale
In the Spotlight The pair became 'the most googled people on the planet' after getting caught having an affair at a Coldplay concert
-
Connie Francis: superstar of the early 1960s pop scene
In the Spotlight The 'Pretty Little Baby' and 'Stupid Cupid' singer has died aged 87
-
Friendship: 'bromance' comedy starring Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson
The Week Recommends 'Lampooning and embracing' middle-aged male loneliness, this film is 'enjoyable and funny'
-
6 head-turning homes for town house living
Feature Featuring a roof deck with city views in South Carolina and a renovated Harlem brownstone in New York City
-
Bookish: delightful period detective drama from Mark Gatiss
The Week Recommends 'Cosy crime' series is a 'standout pleasure' in an Agatha Christie-style formula
-
Music Reviews: Justin Bieber, Wet Leg, and Clipse
Feature "Swag," "Moisturizer," and "Let God Sort Em Out"
-
Film reviews: Eddington and Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
Feature A New Mexico border town goes berserk and civil war through a child's eyes
-
Art Review: Hilma af Klint's What Stands Behind the Flowers
Feature Museum of Modern Art, New York City, through Sept. 27