My mother lived for the first part of her life in South Dakota. Eventually, the disparity in the weather– summers that were sweltering, and winters that were frost-bitingly cold– became too much for my grandparents to put up with, and they moved with their four little girls to sunny California. Of course the weather did not seem like a deal breaker to my mother. She sloshed about in the snow, wearing layers of woolen clothing in the winter, and in the summer came a much-needed break from parochial school, with all of the nuns barking orders, and afternoons were spent soaking up the sun as my grandmother tended to the vegetable garden.

50 years later, in response to the “new” craze for locally grown produce, my mother still talks about all of the food my grandma would can and put up for the winter, and the steady stream of vegetables that came from the earth each summer. Crisp carrots, earthy radishes, and peppery scallions were ready to be harvested almost daily during the spring and summer months, and my mother still recalls with fondness the plain, but certainly not bland, scallion sandwiches she would consume each year. Simple they were– garden-variety scallions, cleaned and trimmed were placed on a slice of fresh white bread slathered with mayonnaise. Sprinkled with salt and pepper, another clean slice of bread was placed on top, and the sandwich was slightly smooshed together, then promptly gobbled up.

That was it. Nothing fancy, nothing over the top, but to hear my mom speak of those sandwiches, they were like a little piece of delicious summertime. To me, the memory is sentient; I can just imagine my mother, her little Kewpie doll forehead gleaming in the sun, sitting on the edge of the porch and having this afternoon snack. But I cannot however, imagine eating a sandwich composed entirely of raw scallions– too strong, too crunchy, too oniony. But braised scallions, delightfully desiccated– now that I can do.

Inspired by a recipe from Molly Steven’s fabulous book, All About Braising, I set to work on a simple braised scallion, imbued with the feeling of those summertime sandwiches my mother so loved. The recipe couldn’t be easier. Just gather a passle of scallions cleaned and trimmed in a large Pyrex baking dish, dot them with butter, season with salt and pepper,and add about 1/2 cup of water. Cover the baking dish with foil and cook for 35-40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove the foil, crank up the heat in the oven to delicately brown the scallions, evaporate any water, and turn the butter into a glaze. That’s it. So easy and so good.

The scallions turn sweet, beautifully wilted– a whole other vegetable. Not to be relegated to a salad any longer, these scallions make an ideal side dish, or even an addition to a not-so-pungent sandwich.