When it
comes to frugal recipes, onions aren’t often used to their full potential. Too
often, we think of onions as only a source of flavour, a topping or salad
ingredient. Check out some of these onion change-ups. Onions are a very frugal
living friendly vegetable that shine as the main ingredient in some of these
easy recipes:
*French onion soup is exceptionally easy and inexpensive to make: sauté sliced onions (I usually slice about 6 large onions) on low-heat in a couple of tablespoons of butter with fresh thyme, some salt and pepper and 3 cloves of minced garlic. Then, when the onions are fragrant and translucent, add 4 cups of beef stock and 1 cup of water. Simmer for about 25 minutes. Pour soup into bowls, top with a slice of bread with cheese and stick under the broiler until bubbly and gooey
*caramelized onions are delicious with just about anything: on top of a roast beef, tomato and cheese sandwich, with a steak, on top of sausages and burgers, mixed in omelettes and quiches or savoury tarts: slowly cook sliced onions in butter (low heat) with a small splash (i.e. ½ tsp) of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of brown sugar
*baked onions: peel whole onions (sweet white onions like Vidalia are nice), pop them into a pot of boiling water and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes (be careful water isn’t boiling too rapidly or the onion will fall apart), then place the onions in a baking pan, drizzle with a little oil, salt and pepper and bake until browned at 375
*Boil whole onion like the baked onion recipe above, then arrange in a buttered baking dish and top with your favourite homemade cheese sauce. Bake your onion gratin at 350 for 30 minutes until nice and bubbly
This time of year, you can often buy a 10lb bag of onions for less than $2. Buy a bag and experiment with some of these tasty money saving tips. Your family will love it!
*photo from Flickr, courtesy of rick
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