French Onion Soup

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My name is Leanne and I’m a soup addict...

I’m not kidding. I love, Love, LOVE soup. I dream about soup. I plot and scheme on how to get more soup into my day. I write about it, daydream about it, I’ve even made up sketchy poems up about it (one included here for your bewildered amusement).

Seriously, this soup obsession of mine, well, it’s just a little over the top; even I can see it.

See the thing is I don’t just care for soup; I’m fanatical about soup. Did I mention I’m obsessed with it? I’d marry it if I could figure out how to make it legal. Soup and I are like a great love story, Romeo and Juliet (no wait, that ended badly); okay, like Bonnie and Clyde (also a bad ending). Well never mind… you know what I’m trying to say.

And I’m not just a fair-weather soup lover either — you know the kind who loves soup in the winter and turns their nose up at it in the middle of summer. I will actually make and eat soup in mid-July when the only thing the weather is good for is cooking eggs outside on the sidewalk. I’m the one with the air conditioning set on polar pretending it’s cold outside so I can enjoy my hot soup. I’m the weirdo hoping against hope for a cold snap in the middle of August, just so I can make soup and not sweat while I’m doing it. Yes, I’m that consumed by soup.

Here is a recent soup poem about making French Onion Soup (recipe follows):

Oh soup, my friend, my lovely minion
Today is the day for French Onion.

I’ll chop and slice those bulbs so plenty
And cook a huge batch; enough to serve twenty.

I’ll make it quickly, it’s just a cinch
Full of onion, broth and thyme, just a pinch

And with it I’ll serve grilled cheese with avocado
Because I’m not your average soup aficionado

Add a salad that is green tossed with olive oil
Is a peasant meal fit for all who are royal.

Making soup is simple and a pleasant undertaking
Frugal, filling and definitely worth making.

I hope you’re not ready to lock me up and throw me into a rubber room now that I’ve confessed my soup obsession. You can bet if I love soup this well, I’m bound to have a soup recipe or two that you’re going to love! Try my French Onion soup… I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do.

French Onion Soup
Serves 6

2 tablespoons butter
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups low sodium beef broth, divided
1/2 cup dry white wine (or use white grape juice with a splash of cider vinegar)
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon thyme
6 slices French bread
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces low-fat Swiss cheese, grated

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add onion slices; reduce heat, cover and allow the onions to sweat for about 10 minutes.

Uncover; add sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Raise heat to medium-high and brown onions; transfer browned onions to a slow cooker.

Add half of the beef broth to the skillet and scrape up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add skillet liquid, remaining beef broth, wine (or juice/vinegar), water and thyme to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat setting for about 6 hours.

About 25 to 30 minutes before serving, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place bread slices on a cookie sheet; drizzle with olive oil and bake till golden.

Place one slice of baked bread in each soup bowl; sprinkle with cheese. Ladle soup over bread and allow bowls to sit for about 3 minutes before serving.

Per Serving: 447 Calories; 14g Fat; 20g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 62mg Cholesterol; 383mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain (Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates. Points: 11

With her clever wit and wisdom, certified nutritional consultant (CNC), Leanne Ely, is bringing people back to the dinner tables each evening. Leanne has a simple philosophy, “Make it and they will come.” She is author of the Saving Dinner series; Leanne also dishes out recipes and advice with her syndicated newspaper column, The Dinner

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