Healthy Onion Soup

Here we go.... a simple, easy recipe for a healthy onion soup and believe it or not this pungent smelly vegetable has many medicinal properties that maybe you have never known about.

Try this recipe and then go to the end of this page to see exactly what it contains to make it a healthy proposition for a delicious soup.

• 540g of peeled and finely sliced onions. If you are not sure what 540 grams are then just use 2 "beeeeeg" onions
  
  
• 1stalk of celery chopped.
  
  
• 40g of butter (two big fat Banting friendly dollops).
  
  
• 2 large potato's, peeled (washed of course) and diced.  (for Banting dieters refer highlighted note lower).
  
  
• Some sage to taste.
  
  
• Salt and pepper to taste.
  
  
• 2.1 liter of chicken stock.
  
  
• Shavings of Parmesan cheese to taste.

• Melt the big dollops of butter in a large saucepan and sauté the onions. Cover and carry on cooking gently for about 45 minutes, you can stir or shake the pot occasionally, both methods will work well. Cooking the onions slowly enhances the sweetness of this vegetable.
  
  
• Remove the lid and carry on cooking gently until the onions  turn a caramel colour.
  
  
• Now my dear fellow cooks....... add the potato (not if you are on the banting diet) and celery.
  
  
•  Stir in the chicken stock, and get ready to adjust the seasoning, ( salt and pepper and the sage) add and taste my friends....  keep on adding and most important of all keep tasting,  until  you are happy with that the flavours are just to your liking, then leave to simmer for another hour or so.
  
  
• Remove a quarter of the onions and set aside.
  
  
• Allow to cool for a tad, and then mix in a blender (if you are rich enough to have one) otherwise get out the old fashioned egg beater  ( good for keeping the arms trim and toned) and mix into a "smooth-ish" consistency.
  
  
• Return the soup to a clean pot, and add the onions you had set aside earlier.
  
  
• Reheat slowly, while you clean up the mess you have just made of your kitchen.

If you want to make this a "banting friendly Onion Soup" then leave out the potato's , and prior to serving add half a cup of fresh Cream!!

Plating

• You can plate this with little pieces of toasted bread cubes ( called croutons - if you wanna be a fancy pants) and top off with some grated parmesan.
• This will serve 6 delicious, lip smacking helpings.
• You can halve all the ingredients if you are only cooking for one or two of you.

And just before we leave this page, take a few minutes to see what benefits you can get from eating this delicious, simple and healthy soup.

Is Onion Soup Healthy?

Quercetin is a flavenoid contained in onions (more so in red and yellow onions) which is:

• A powerful natural antioxidant
• A natural antihistamine
• A natural anti-inflammatory.
• High Blood Pressure
• High cholesterol
• And any left over raw onions, can be mixed in a salad or used for anyone suffering from nausea and vomiting.

This article was printed from Home-Cooking-Haven.com.com

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food."

~ Hippocrates

Oven Temp's

Cooking Terms and Tips

Al Dente: Usually applied to Pasta, means cooked until just done, but not soft. The pasta should still maintain some "bite:

Barbeque:  To cook foods over coals, known as a Braai in South Africa (The best in the world for this type of cooking).

Baste: To moisten food for added flavor and to prevent drying out while cooking.

Blanch: To cook briefly in boiling water to seal in flavour and color.

Bouquet Garni: A tied bundle of herbs, usually parsley, thyme, and bay leaves that are added to flavor soups, stews, and sauces but removed before serving.

Braise: Two cook first by browning, then gently simmer till done.

Bread: To coat with crumbs or cornmeal before cooking.

Broil: To cook on a rack or spit during or over direct heat, usually in and on top.

Brown: Two cook over high heat, usually on top of the stove, to brown food.

Caramelize: To Heat sugar until it liquefies and becomes a syrup.

Core: To remove the seeds or tough woody centers from fruits and vegetables.

Cream: The butterfat portion of milk.   Also to beat ingredients, usually sugar and a fat, until smooth and fluffy.

Cube: To cut food into small ½ inch cubes.

Cut In: To distribute a solid fat in flour using a cutting motion, with 2 knives used scissors-fashion or a pastry blender, until divided evenly into tiny pieces.  Usually refers to making pastry.

Croutons: These are tiny cubes of toasted or fried bread, used as a garnish.

Coriander:  Also known as Dhania.

Dollop: A spoonful of soft food such as whipped cream or mashed potatoes.

Dot: To scatter butter in bits over food.

Dress: To coat foods such as salad with a sauce.  Also, to clean fish, poultry or game for cooking.

Drippings: Juices and fats rendered by meat or poultry while cooking.

Drizzle: To pour melted butter, oil, syrup, melted chocolate, or other liquid back and forth over food in a fine stream.

Experiment:   Always keep to the basics, but, take out and put in spices etc. to your tastes.

Fines Herbs: A mixture of herbs, normally parsley, chervil, chives and tarragon used to flavor fish, chicken and eggs.

Glace: To coat foods with glossy mixtures such as jellies or sauces.

Julienne: To cut into long thin strips match-sticklike in shape

Macerate: To soak in flavoured liquid; usually refers to fruit

Picked Over:  If you are working with lentils or other beans you might sometimes find a few little rocks that managed to sneak their way in, picked over means to make sure there are none left in what you are going to be using.

Poach: To cook gently over very low heat  is barely simmering liquid just to cover.

Puree: To mash or grind food until completely smooth. Usually in a food processor, blender, sieve, or food mill.

Ragout:  The basic method of preparation involves slow cooking over a low heat.

Reduce: To thicken a liquid and concentrate its flavor by boiling.

Render: To cook fatty meat or poultry - such as bacon or goose - over low heat to obtain drippings.

Sear:  To brown surface of meat quickly over a high heat, to seal in juices.

Simmer: To cook in liquid at just below boiling point, with only a few bubbles breaking the surface.

Skim:  To remove surface foam or fat from a liquid.

Seep:  To soak in a liquid just under the boiling point to extract the essence i.e. Tea.

Truss: To tie whole poultry with skin or skewers so it will hold its shape in cooking.

Whip: To beat eggs or cream with a wire whisk, eggbeater or electric mixer which increases the volume as air is incorporated into the eggs or cream.

Zest: The outer, colored part of the peel of citrus fruits.

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