Is there anything better than walking in your front door and being greeted by the scent of garlic and onion sautéing in a pan? For one, it smells delicious, and it also means that someone else is on top of dinner. Jason and I both took a turn at cooking up the ol’ alliums this week (the family that includes both garlic and onions), he with a healthful, cold-fighting garlic soup, and I with a not-so-healthful-but-seriously-super-delicious French onion soup.
Jason got the skinny on the garlic soup from his yoga teacher, who made it for her sick child. Garlic has long been a home remedy for warding off the sniffles, to say nothing of its reputation as a worthy adversary of arthritis, heart disease and some kinds of tumors. You could argue that garlic is not a miracle drug…or you could just eat some of this garlic soup and be happy. And you can trust me on this count: the garlic in it is well-cooked enough that you won’t leak garlic from your pores. I was sort of looking forward to getting a seat to myself on the subway afterward, but I smelled no more like a salami than usual. You can find the recipe at this very earnest website.
Healthfulness is a noble ambition, but I had other things on my mind when I made my allium soup. Namely, the fact that the day I figured out that most French onion soup is made with beef broth was a very dismal day in my vegetarian life. Once, I was listening to an Australian woman rant about her travels in America. I was with her until she said, “My God, you put cheese on everything! I ordered soup and it came covered in cheese!” That’s the moment I discovered I had nothing more to say to this woman. If you can’t see the beauty in a heap of melted Gruyere, well, then…perhaps you better scoot on back to your former prison colony of a nation.
So when we got a couple big ol’ white onions in our farm share, I looked up a recipe and changed it a little for vegetarians. It involves making big Gruyere-coated croutons that you float on top. This might not be quite as impressive as blanketing the bowl like restaurants do, but it’s easier and it ensures that not a shred of cheese is wasted. Good for a cold? Maybe not, but it’s good for the soul.
Vegetarian French Onion Soup
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- Salt and black pepper
- ½ cup red wine
- 2 heaping tablespoons flour
- 6 cups mushroom broth
- Sliced baguette
- ½ cup Gruyere cheese
Melt the butter in a big saucepan and add the onion, garlic and spices. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the onions are nice and caramelized. (This takes a while if you want the onions to be really tasty, around half an hour. Make a salad. Amuse yourself.) When the onions are very soft and golden, add the wine and cook until it is reduced and most of the liquid has been absorbed by the onions. Then add the flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring often to make sure the flour does not burn. Add the mushroom broth and more salt and pepper to taste, and simmer while you make the croutons.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place about ten slices of baguette on a baking sheet and top with shredded cheese. Bake until the cheese is brown and bubbly, then float the croutons in bowls of the soup. Serve while speaking with a terrible French accent. Voila!