Gluten-free with Veggie Stock

per one serving :

ingredients :

• 1 caramelized vidalia/sweet onion — med/large, sliced thin
• olive oil — a generous full coating, cold-pressed extra virgin 100%
• 1 pat butter — about 1 Tablespoon
• thyme — the fresher the better
• 1 veggie bouillon cube — read the ingredients re: salt content and chemical junk, I buy low-sodium HarvestSun brand at the health food store
• 1 c boiling water
• ~1/3 teaspoon tamari — wheat-free “soy sauce”
• optional mustard — I forgot to bring mine to where I was cooking, and the soup was yummy without it
• soft goat cheese
• fresh cracked pepper & salt — Himalayan rock salt is very healthy
• about a slice of sprouted wheat bread — it’s not wheat-free, but unless you are allergic to gluten, the sprouting process seems to be comfortable for gluten-sensitives such as myself. Plus it’s yummy. Food For Life “Ezekiel” original, gone a bit dry in the fridge
• oven-safe bowl — I don’t have fancy oven soup bowls [yet?], so used some glazed stoneware ones the family has

prep :

1. Slice onions thin and cut in two lengthwise. Add a generous amount of olive oil to coat, and butter to melt/mix in. Slow sauté, mixing occasionally until they are well caramelized.

2. As long as they’re not burning/browning from the outside, you can go “overboard” and it only improves the soup. You want them to break down quite a bit. I prefer cast iron for onions [and everything else, for that matter], since it will maintain an even heat. I cooked three onions together when I made this soup and the combined mass seemed to help the process. If you are only cooking one, try a smaller pan or keep them pushed up in a pile.

3. Add thyme about 1/2 way through. I buy fresh thyme in the grocery but don’t use it up quickly, so I dry them on the stalks in the fridge [a great place to dehydrate things].

4. Boil water, and stir to dissolve bouillon. Add to onions. Add Tamari.

5. Separate into oven-safe bowls [or for one serving, “dump into..” ].

6. Break bread into smallish pieces and place on top of soup.

7. Crumble/distribute/grate/place the cheese on top of the bread pieces. I think I covered about 1/3 of the surface area.

8. Generous cracked pepper and moderate cracked salt on top of everything.

9. Broil. Our convection oven read out “450°F” for this setting, if that helps anyone.

10. Probably 10 minutes, though I didn’t time it. It was hot enough that I had to let it cool. Goat cheese doesn’t brown, but it sort of melds into the bread and soup.

11. Sir a bit before DEVOURING. 🙂

thanks to : Joy of Cooking, Moosewood Cookbook, and friends who love onions and have taught me ways to cook them 🙂