Vegetarian French Onion Soup

I'm actually generally better at taking photos than this. The photos you are seeing here are ones I've taken for Facebook or Google+ to brag to my friends see if anyone wanted the recipe. Most of the photos are done on my iPhone with one to four cats in the photo somewhere; they can be such helpful food critics!

This recipe is a favorite of D's -- and one of mine as well. French Onion Soup was not something I thought about loving until going vegetarian meant giving it up.

I've played around with this recipe for months now, trying to come up with one that was absolutely what D and I were looking for: the taste of French Onion Soup, not terrible for calories, and vegetarian. Of all the versions, this one is my favorite. It is also one of the closest to Bella Bella's, a restaurant here in Tallahassee, FL. This will not be the last of their recipes I tried to puzzle out; their Bubble Bread is definitely on that list.

I do sometimes add toasted bread cubes or croutons to this recipe. They tend to be very good additions. Italian bread and French loaves have been particularly great with this dish. Most of the time, though, I do prefer to eat this soup plain, so that is how I have .

French Onion Soup (Vegetarian)
A recipe from Kat


Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2.5 cups of vegetable broth
• 3-5 cloves of minced garlic (to your taste)
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce or vegan Worcestershire sauce (I prefer the latter myself)
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the onions. Stir until tender, about 20 minutes. Add minced garlic cloves at about the 10 minute point.
2. Add flour, stirring constantly so that it does not stick. Slowly add broth and water in stages; this helps to prevent lumps of flour from forming. 
3. Add soy sauce, parsley, and thyme.
4. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low (if your stove burner dials use numbers, around a 1 or a 2) and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Serve hot with shredded Parmesan cheese.