Wednesday Dinner #11 - Baked Onions

Also - Post 100!

It's been awhile since I blogged food. Basically, ever since I've stopped having Wednesdays off, there hasn't been much time for a fancy cooking.

Last night I made Baked Onions from the 100 Great Vegetarian Recipe Cookbook. They were really yummy and easy to make, but very time consuming. You might also find yourself feeling a little hungry after dinner if your onions aren't the biggest.


Preheat your oven to 375. Slice off the root end of your onions so they stand up tall. Then, the recipe says to wrap them in loosley in foil and bake on a cookie sheet for 35 minutes. I didn't realize that this initial bake was meant to be done with the papery skins on. As you can see, I took them off right after cutting off the bottoms. I was worried that this might ruin the dish, but it turned out not to be a big deal, as far as I could tell.

Then you take the onions out and let them cool for a minute. I took this opportunity to chop up the 3 garlic cloves and the half cup of mushrooms. Once the onions are cool enough to handle, cut off the tops about 1/3 the way down and scoop out the insides. This is pretty easy, as the baking leaves the onion layers slippery and easy to separate. Finely chop the innards.

Cook the chopped onion with oil in a skillet until golden. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until tender.

The recipe then called for half a lemon, which I forgot to buy! It says to add the zest and juice and cook for 1 minute. I didn't think it was bad without it, but it probably gave a more interesting dimension to the flavor.

After that remove the veggies from the heat and add 1/3 cup breadcrumbs and a Tbsp of parsley. Salt and pepper to taste.

Fill the onions shells with this mixture. Sprinkle sharp cheddar cheese all over. Wrap each onion in greased aluminum foil, adding a tsp of water to each packet. Scrunch the foil tightly and bake for 40 minutes. Open the foil at that point, and cook open for 10 minutes.

Mmm. They came out really cheesy and delicious. As I said though, go with the biggest onions, or make a side, because they aren't super filling. I would make again. It's a nice fall meal.