Quick French Onion Soup

Ah! Just finished my lunch (at my desk - sadface). This week I thought I'd make some good ol' heart warming soup! Usually I bring my lunch to work and I always end up getting some Au Bon Pain soup to go along with the rest of my lunch. Last week I got the Wild Mushroom Bisque and after looking at the nutritional facts online- I was disgusted! Sodium galore in such a small cup of soup!!

I thought it was time to make my own soup for lunch (or at least to go with my lunch), so I went online and tried to explore some new healthy and easy soup recipes! This week I got the recipe off of Eatingwell.com (As with most of my recipes) and tried to make some great French Onion Soup! The recipe follows:

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1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 large sweet onions, sliced
2 cups chopped spring onions, or leeks, whites and light green parts only
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 14-ounce cans reduced-sodium beef broth
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
1/4 cup minced fresh chives, or scallions
6 slices whole-wheat country bread
1 cup shredded Gruyère, or fontina cheese

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sweet onions and stir to coat. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until softened and starting to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add spring onions (or leeks), garlic and thyme and cook, uncovered, stirring often, until starting to soften, 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in sherry and pepper; increase heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in broth and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in chives (or scallions).

Meanwhile, toast bread and divide it among 6 bowls; top with cheese. Ladle the soup over the bread and cheese and serve immediately.

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I was so surprised at how delicious this ended up being! I was talking to Eric on the phone as I was making the soup- and he got me a bit skeptical after pointing out the fact that French Onion Soup is only good because it's been simmering for hours on a stove. Well not this one!

The chickpeas add a great texture- making it a very hearty soup- perfect for a light lunch. I used leeks instead of spring onions and didn't add the bread. I also used reduced sodium chicken stock (just because I had 6 cans of it laying in my pantry) instead of the beef and it was still delicious!

I was very surprised by the flavor- I was expecting it to be a bit bland without any extra salt in the recipe, but it turns out that all you need is the flavor of the vegetables and broth as well as some thyme- and your soup is perfectly seasoned!

I definitely recommend this recipe- it was fast (ish) and easy to make. I must say, the more you simmer the better it tastes- so it may not necessarily be 'fast' if you want it to be 'better'. But either way- what a great recipe!

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 40 minutes

Taste: 9