Caramelized Onions - How Sweet It Is!

One of the tricks of creating great-tasting dishes when following a special diet is to rely on flavor-boosting additions.  A favorite of mine is carmelized onions.  I must confess, however, that I have never actually made them.  I was put off by the idea of how much time they would need.

Let me tell you ... this was nonsense!  Today, I sliced up four onions I had laying around and cooked them up, low and slow, with some olive oil and a dash of salt.  These caramelized onions were possibly the GREATEST FOOD I EVER ATE!

The uses for them are endless.  I could use them as the base of a rich French Onion Soup, I could make a tart with a gluten-free crust and sliced, salty olives, I could load them up on crostini.  Or, what I suspect might happen, I could eat them out of the jar with a fork, not even sharing them with my family!

Cooking the onions over a medium heat for a long time (45 minutes to an hour) took all of the sting out of the onions and left them with a sweet, sugary, rich loveliness.  If you haven't made these before, I strongly recommend that you cook some up right away.

Caramelized Onions
Makes approximately 1 cup

Ingredients:
4 large onions, thinly sliced
olive oil, enough to coat bottom of pan
dash of salt

Preparation:
Pour olive oil into the bottom of a saute pan or small stock pot .  Turn pan to ensure that the bottom is coated with oil.
Heat oil over medium heat.
Add onions.  Sprinkle with salt.
Cook over medium to medium-low heat for 45 minutes to an hour.  Stirring and scraping every few minutes to ensure that they are not sticking and burning.  Scrape any browned bits off the bottom.
Onions are done when they are soft, brown and sweet.
 

Happy Cooking!
Kim


My new book, Super Seeds, is available now! You can also find tasty recipes in Welcoming Kitchen: 200 Delicious Allergen- & Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes.