Vidalia Onion Soup With Wild Rice and Blue Cheese Toasts
Vidalia Onion Soup
A light but satisfying sweet onion soup with wild rice, herb-scented broth, and warm blue cheese baguette toasts.
This Vidalia onion soup keeps the comfort of onion soup but trades the deep winter heaviness for a gentler, spring-leaning bowl. Sweet onions cook slowly in butter until soft and mellow, then simmer in a clear stock that lets their flavor stay clean rather than buried.
Wild rice gives the soup body without turning it into a stew. Its chewy grains and nutty flavor make each bowl substantial enough for lunch or a simple dinner, especially when the rice is cooked separately and added at serving time so it keeps its texture.
The herb bundle is short but useful: a little parsley, chive, basil, and tarragon perfume the broth without leaving chopped herbs everywhere. A brief infusion is enough, though leaving it in for a few extra minutes gives a more pronounced herbal edge.
Blue cheese toasts finish the bowl in place of the usual heavy blanket of melted Gruyere. Use a young, creamy blue cheese rather than a sharp crumbly one, and spread it on warm baguette slices so the cheese softens just before the toasts float on the soup.
Nutrition (per serving)
Directions
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1
Combine the wild rice and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to very low, cover, and cook for 50 to 55 minutes, until the grains are tender and the water is absorbed.
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2
While the rice cooks, melt the butter in a 4- to 5-quart Dutch oven over moderately low heat. Add the sliced onions and toss until they are evenly coated.
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3
Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and let the onions cook gently for 15 minutes, until they begin to collapse and release their juices.
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4
Uncover the pot, season the onions with salt and pepper, and raise the heat slightly. Cook for 15 to 25 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are very soft, sweet, and pale golden but not deeply browned.
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5
Add the stock and bring the soup to a steady simmer. Tie the herbs in cheesecloth or a clean tea infuser, add the bundle to the pot, and simmer for 10 to 20 minutes, tasting until the broth is lightly herbal.
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6
Remove the herb bundle and adjust the soup with more salt and pepper. Keep the soup hot over low heat while you finish the toasts.
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7
Heat the oven to 400°F. Brush both sides of the baguette slices with olive oil, arrange them on a baking sheet, and bake for 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly golden and crisp at the edges.
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8
Spread the warm baguette slices with softened blue cheese. Divide the cooked wild rice among four bowls, ladle the onion soup over the rice, and float two blue cheese toasts on each serving.
Ingredients
- Wild rice, uncooked:1/2 cup
- Water for cooking rice:2 cups
- Unsalted butter:3 tbsp
- Vidalia onions, quartered and very thinly sliced:2 1/2 lb
- Chicken or vegetable stock:6 cups
- Fresh mixed herbs, such as chives, parsley, basil, and tarragon:3/4 cup
- Kosher salt:to taste
- Black pepper, freshly ground:to taste
- Baguette slices:8
- Extra-virgin olive oil:2 tbsp
- Young blue cheese, softened:4 oz
Tips & Notes
- If Vidalia onions are unavailable, use another sweet onion such as Walla Walla, Maui, Texas 1015, or Spanish onions.
- Homemade chicken or vegetable stock is especially useful here because the soup is mild and stock-forward.
- For a cleaner broth, keep the herbs bundled rather than stirring chopped herbs directly into the soup.
- Cook the wild rice separately so it stays chewy and does not cloud or over-thicken the broth.
