Recipe: Sweet Onion Soup With Baked Croutons

Onion soup, with its classically simple roots, is an easy one to turn into something fancy. This recipe is a great example. Caramelized sweet onions, some good crusty bread, and melty Gruyere cheese are all you need for a classic but classy bowl of delicious soup!

Sweet Onion Soup With Baked Croutons
(Make 4 servings.)

Ingredients:

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

4 pieces crusty bread (like French bread) cut into small cubes
1 tsp olive oil or good cooking oil spray
2 Tbsp butter
3 large sweet onions (like Vidalia or Walla Walla)
6 cups rich chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese (or aged Gouda, etc.)
fresh chives, chopped, for garnish

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the bread cubes on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil or spray with cooking oil and stir around with your hands. Put in oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once, until golden brown; remove and set aside.
• Put the butter in a large soup pot over medium-low heat, add the onions, and cook, stirring often, until transparent, soft, and golden brown (about 20 minutes).
• Add to the pot the chicken stock, salt and pepper; and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
• To serve, ladle soup into warmed bowls, add the baked bread cubes on top of each serving, the sprinkle the cheese on top, and add a few chives. Serve hot.

Recipe: Roasted Cauliflower & Herbed Goat Cheese Soup

This easy twist will take a classic cauliflower cheese soup to a whole new level! With just a few simple ingredients, you can elevate these humble soup beginnings into something fancy enough to grace the table at the most elegant soiree. Roasting the cauliflower brings out the natural sweet and nutty flavors of the vegetable, while the creamy goat cheese adds richness and a touch of acidity to balance it out.

Roasted Cauliflower & Herbed Goat Cheese Soup
(Serves 4-6.)

Ingredients:

1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 Tbsp olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1 small sweet onion, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, grated
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup of crumbled herbed goat cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and get out large baking sheet.
• Put cauliflower on baking sheet, drizzle on 1 Tbsp olive oil, then sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and spread around with your hands. Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, using a spatula several times during cooking times to turn cauliflower pieces over; remove when fork tender and set aside.
• In a large soup pot, add the onion with a Tbsp of olive oil, put over medium-low heat and cook until the onion softens, then add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer.
• Add the roasted cauliflower into the pot, scraping all the oils off the baking sheet along with the cauliflower.
• Continue cooking over medium-low heat for about 2 minutes, stirring the cauliflower into the onion mixture.
• Stir in the vegetable broth, turn heat up and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, loosely cover pot and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat and let cool slightly.
• Ladle soup into a blender and puree until smooth, then return to pot over low heat.
• Slowly stir in the goat cheese, continuing to stir until cheese completely melts.
• Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot.