Detoxifying French Onion Soup

For all those readers just interested in the food and not the food facts/story, skip down to the first picture and it will take you to the recipe! For those ready for the full crazy adventure....let's do this.

Who doesn't love a warm soup to make a cold winter day cozy......Well how about a warm cup of soup with ooey gooey cheese on top?! Am-I-Right?! This recipe is flexible in that you can really choose the time to spend on it. I have tried it both ways and it really hits the spot. You can make this in about 30 minutes right before dinner, OR you can slow cook those onions for a couple of hours to really extract that maximum onion flavor. Pretty awesome if you ask me! My husband was a little under the weather this week, so I decided to make him something tasty to make him feel better!

I know onions have already made it on the blog a few times, but they are so awesome for you that they deserve their own spotlight!!!! Let's do a quick recap on why onions are so beneficial for you:

-Onions. Onions contain powerful antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C, folate, are natural chelators (get rid of heavy metals), may decrease the risk of osteoporosis, and may aid in fighting and preventing cancer. They are also heart health by decreasing the tendency of blood clots to form as well as lowering cholesterol levels.

Time to get started on this beneficial comfort food!

Ingredients:
-2 Tbsp of Butter
-4 Sweet Onions (You can reduce the amount of onions if you prefer)
-6 Cups of Beef Broth
-Sliced or Grated Cheese to your preference (Gouda, Gruyere, or Swiss all work nicely)
-Slices of Bread
Soup Pan with Lid
Ramekins/ Bowls for Serving
Cook time: Anywhere between 30 minutes to several hours, you can choose how long to cook the onions!  

First set your soup pan on the stove over a medium-low heat. Add your butter so that it can begin to melt while you chop lots and lots of onions.

Next start slicing your onions into relatively thin pieces. Don't cry too much! haha!

 Add all of your onions into your soup pan and reduce the heat to a low setting. 

**If you wish to speed things up, put the onions on a medium-high heat and stir occasionally. You will want to keep an eye on the onions so that they don't burn. Cook the onions for as long as you like- either until they are just soft and translucent, or until they get a slight brown color on them for a little more flavor. Skip down to the addition of the broth if you wish to continue with the quicker version. **

Make sure the onions are all coated in the butter and then cover with a lid to slowly caramelize throughout the day.

About 2 hours in, my onions started smelling really good and cooking down with this nice light brown color. 

I like to have them even more caramelized and full of flavor, so I add in another little step. After slowly cooking the onions, remove the lid and turn the heat back up to a medium-low. Stir the onions until they get a dark brown caramel color and maximum flavor. 

Now you are only about 10 minutes away from dinner time! Add your beef broth and bring the soup to a slight boil. Cover the soup and simmer to ensure the onions flavor your broth fully. 

Now for the fun part....CHEEEEESE! You can do this 2 different ways. Toast your bread until a light golden brown in the broiler. 

Option 1 (make sure your bowl can take this kind of heat in an oven)- You can put the toasted bread on top of the soup, cover with cheese, and place back into the broiler until it becomes that ooey gooey cheese that is melted everywhere... 

Option 2- OR you can sprinkle cheese on top of your toasted bread and place only that back into the broiler until the cheese becomes ooey gooey. I mean in either case that's what we are looking for!!

Once it is all melted, just slice the bread and place on top of your soup and enjoy!

Ohhhhhhh yeah! I mean that has to make anyone feel a little better!!! 

I hope this soup warms you up! Until next time!

Let's get Cookin'
~Abigail