Classic French Onion Soup

This recipe is from the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook (which is so often my go-to guide for a good recipe), though instead of using red onion as they suggest, I used sweet white onions.  The key to great flavor in this soup is the time spent cooking the onions--don't rush it!  I like to serve French Onion soup with slices of baguette that have been broiled with provolone or swiss cheese on top.  To do this, all you need to do is broil (500 degrees) the bread slices and cheese for 1 to 2 minutes (watch it carefully!) in the oven on a cookie sheet.

Ingredients:

• 3 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced in half-rings (you should end up with 4 to 5 cups of onion)
• 2 tbsp butter
• salt
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 2 tsp fresh)
• 2 whole bay leaves
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2.5 cups chicken broth (preferably reduced sodium)
• 2 cups beef broth (also reduced sodium)

After the onions are sliced, heat the butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onions, 1/2 tsp salt and the thyme; stir to coat the onions in the butter.  Occasionally stir the onions, but allow them to cook until very soft and golden brown (about 30 minutes).  When they have some caramelized coloring, add the balsamic vinegar and scrape any brown bits off of the bottom of the pan.  Next, add the broth and the bay leaves.  Bring to a simmer, and allow to cook 15 to 20 more minutes.  After simmering, remove the bay leaves from the soup.  

Right before the soup is done simmering, broil your bread slices so they'll be hot when the soup is done.  If you've got a thing for croutons, go that route instead!  Either way, you'll have something to sop up that delicious broth.  Enjoy!

Roasted Vegetable Soup

This is a really awesome, hearty soup.  I came up with the recipe after having some of the best soup of my life at a coffee shop in Kirksville.  They called it Panzanella, but typically that is a tomato and bread salad that is popular during summer.  So I did some guessing and came up with a pretty close contender with their soup.  The recipe below makes really thick soup, so you could always thin the soup out with some vegetable stock or water.





Ingredients:

• 3 med-large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 medium onions peeled, halved and sliced into half rings
• 1 small green bell pepper, cored and roughly chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, cored and roughly chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, cut in half (or 2 small)
• 1 cup (8 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup vegetable juice (such as V8)
• 1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Toss the chopped vegetables and garlic clove with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Spread the veggies in a thin layer onto a cookie sheet.  Roast in the oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through baking (rotating pans if necessary).  You want the vegetables to be nicely caramelized, but not burned.  After removing the pans from the oven, let the vegetables cool for about 5 minutes.  Using a food processor, process all the veggies with the 1/2 cup vegetable juice to a fine puree.  When the mixture is a pretty smooth consistency, transfer this to a saucepan and stir in the crushed tomatoes.  This is a good time to decide if the soup is too thick or not; if so, go ahead and add some vegetable stock or water to thin it.  Bring the soup to a boil, and let simmer for 6 to 8 minutes.  Taste test the soup for needing more salt or pepper.  Finally, stir in the basil before serving.  I think this would pair well with some crostini or grilled cheese sandwiches.  Enjoy!