Alright, so today I felt like making something simple, ended up throwing together this rice onion soup. Had a bag of onions needing to be used, and rice is always in the cupboard, so it just made sense. Nothing fancy, just straightforward stuff.
Getting Started
First thing, I grabbed the ingredients I figured I’d need. Let’s see…
- Onions, obviously. I used maybe 4 medium yellow ones.
- Some rice. Just plain white rice, maybe about half a cup? Didn’t measure precisely.
- Butter. A good chunk.
- Broth. I had some chicken broth cartons, used about 4 cups. Water would work too, I guess.
- Salt and pepper. The basics.
That was pretty much it. Kept it real simple.
Prep Work
Then came the chopping. Took those onions, peeled ’em, and started slicing them up. Not too thin, not too thick. Yeah, my eyes started watering, always happens with onions, doesn’t it? Just gotta power through. Rinsed the rice quickly in a strainer, just to get the extra starch off. Set that aside.
Cooking Process
Got my big pot out, put it on the stove over medium heat. Tossed in the butter, let it melt down nicely. Then, all those sliced onions went into the pot. Gave them a good stir to coat them in the butter.
Now, the slow part. Turned the heat down a bit, like medium-low. Just let those onions cook slowly. Stirred them now and then so they wouldn’t stick or burn. Wanted them to get really soft and kinda sweet. Took a while, maybe 20 minutes or so? They started looking translucent and smelling really good. Didn’t need them super brown, just soft and lovely.
Once the onions looked right, I dumped the rinsed rice into the pot. Stirred that around with the onions for a minute or two. Just to get it coated and maybe slightly toasted.
Next, poured in the chicken broth. All four cups. Turned the heat up a bit to bring it to a gentle boil. Then, immediately turned it back down low, put the lid on sort of crooked, and just let it simmer away.
Had to keep an eye on it. Stirred it every once in a while to make sure the rice wasn’t sticking to the bottom. Let it bubble gently until the rice was cooked through and tender. How long? Maybe another 20 minutes? The soup started looking thicker as the rice released its starch.
Finishing Up
When the rice was soft, I tasted it. Added a good pinch of salt and some black pepper. Stirred it in, tasted again. Adjusted it ’til it tasted right to me. You just gotta season based on how you like it.
And that was basically it. Ladled it into a bowl. It wasn’t a fancy looking soup, just onions and rice in a simple broth, but it smelled comforting.
The Result
Turned out pretty decent. It’s a very basic, filling soup. Nothing complex, just honest flavor from the onions cooked down slow, and the rice makes it hearty. Good for a chilly day or when you don’t want anything complicated. Yeah, a simple success for using up those onions.
