French Onion Soup

Break out your slow cooker! It perfectly browns onions for this meat- and dairy-free French Onion Soup.

The soup was good enough on its own. But I just can't pass up the excuse to eat white bread (because it is my weakness, I rarely buy it), and then it didn't seem right to have the bread without some cheesy topping. While I haven't been too impressed with Daiya cheese in the past and usually rather make my own or go cheese-ish-less, I used the Daiya mozzarella style shreds on this. It was actually fantastic. The cheese-ish-nish went perfectly with the sweet, tangy soup. 

It was even better the next day!

French Onion Soup
Recipe adapted from 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes.

• 3 lbs sliced onions (about 6 medium onions)
• 2 tbsp melted vegan margarine (Earth Balance)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cracked black peppercorns
• 8 cups vegetable stock (it calls for this stock you also make in the slow cooker, but because I didn't have any made, I bought organic veg stock; I also added about a half-cup of Happy Herbivore's no-beef broth from the cookbook)
• 2 tbsp brandy or cognac (optional) (I couldn't see buying brandy to use 2 tbsp for this recipe, so I omitted)
• sliced baguette (optional)
• Daiya or DIY cheese shreds (optional)

1. In slow cooker stoneware, combine onions and margarine. Stir to coat onions thoroughly. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour until onions are softened.
2. Add sugar, salt, and peppercorns and stir well. Place two clean tea towels, each folded in half so you have four layers, over top of stoneware to absorb the moisture. Cover and cook on high for 2 to 4 hours (depends on slow cooker; mine only took 2 hours), stirring 2 or 3 times to ensure that onions are browning evenly, replacing towels each time.
3. Add vegetable stock and brandy, if using. Remove towels, cover, and cook on high for 1 to 2 hours (only took me 1 hour).
4. If adding bread and cheese, preheat broiler. Ladle soup into ovenproof bowls. Place two slices baguette in each bowl. Sprinkle liberally with cheese and broil 2 to 3 minutes until cheese shreds are melted. Serve immediately.