Green Beans with Caramelized Red Onions
November 30, 2009 by Andrea
Filed under Vegetables
My grandmothers always made a big pot of Southern style green beans with a Virginia ham bone in it when we came to visit, and I would eat multiple helpings of those flavorful beans. The ham bone lent a smoky flavor to the beans that stuck in my memory and remains to this day. You could find them on the table amongst the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and biscuits.
These vegan green beans, while not my grandmother’s, are full of flavor with caramelized red onions and a light balsamic vinegar sauce. Read more
Caramelized Onion Dip and a Giveaway
January 13, 2009 by Andrea
Filed under Appetizers, Salsas & Dips
And continuing the entertaining theme, we move on to dips, a key ingredient for any good party. I confess that I grew up on grocery store French onion dip, and boy did I eat my share of it. In fact a really good French onion dip such as this one and a few wavy potato chips could set me back weeks on my diet.
Party recipe #2 this week comes from Great Party Dips, a new cookbook from Peggy Fallon. Dips are a must for any party, and this book has tasty recipes for all kinds of dips and dunkers, giving you plenty of variety to choose from. This caramelized onion dip is creamy, rich, and full of flavor and is a great make ahead for parties as it can sit in the refrigerator for up to two days. At the minimum, let it rest for four hours to give the onion flavors time to permeate the sour cream mixture. The dip is easy to make, but caramelizing the onions properly takes some time, so plan for that. Read more
The Way to Cook…Vegetarian French Onion Soup
December 6, 2007 by Andrea
Filed under Soups & Stews
This post marks a couple of firsts for me. This is the first time I have made French onion soup in two years, but not because I don’t like it. I love it and I have missed it! No, I had to give this up along with many other foods while I was pregnant with our third son because I was so sick, and then after he was born I was still eating a very restricted diet because he had reflux and couldn’t tolerate many foods I like to eat. So this year I am thrilled to be able to enjoy all of my favorite foods again.
And the other big, BIG first for me is the cookbook I adapted this recipe from. Until recently I have never owned a Julia Child cookbook, and I never watched her shows. For some reason I had the impression that her recipes were too complex, but early on in my cooking journey I could have really used her help because some of my creations were utterly horrifying fiascoes. A couple months ago my attitude changed when I was challenged to try a Julia Child recipe by one of my neighbors. Rose and her family moved into their house across the street last spring, and she was expecting her third child in October. I welcomed them to the neighborhood with a gift of homemade chewy oatmeal raisin cookies and we struck up a friendship. After we got to know each other a little better and she had a chance to be a taste tester for the Daring Baker challenges, she asked me if I would make a chocolate mousse for her sometime using a Julia Child recipe that another friend of hers had made for special occasions. She had the cookbook with the recipe and loaned it to me. I was slightly intimidated based on my prior thoughts about Julia Child’s cooking, but in the spirit of friendship I said I would try it sometime. I made it for a girls’ night out and realized what I had been missing all these years. I should have bought this cookbook a long time ago! Read more
