It's National Onion Ring Day!  How should you celebrate  a day dedicated to the delicious crispy rings? Whip up your own batch of boardwalk-style, batter-coated beauties!

We love Chuck Hughes' Classic Onion Rings (shown above) which calls for soda water in the batter. The bubbles in the soda water leave tiny air spaces in the batter, giving it a light and crisp texture; your rings won't be heavy and laden with oil. Tyler's Tempura Battered Onion Rings have a similar light-as-air texture, thanks to rice flour -- which is finer than all-purpose flour -- and beer in the batter, which, like the soda water, lightens the batter with the same air bubbles.

The most indulgent way to enjoy them would be to stack the crunchy loops next to a big, juicy burger, and wash the whole meal down with a thick, frosty shake ( salted caramel if you're driving, a spiked shake if you're not).

National Onion Ring Day doesn't have to mean blowing your diet though. The calorie-conscious will be happy to know that Hungry Girl's Lord of the Onion Rings recipe has just 155 calories per serving. And since they're coated with fiber cereal, you'll get the added benefit of extra fiber, too. Ellie Krieger's Oven Baked Onion Rings are waistline-friendly as well, while still being crisp and onion-y. She uses baked potato chips in the batter before baking, not frying, the rings.

So are you going all-out for this food holiday today? Or will you be enjoying a healthier version of this classic boardwalk-and-burger-joint favorite? And is it ok to eat a bloomin' onion on Onion Ring Day? Or do we wait till someone decides that National Bloomin' Onion Day should be added to our calendars?