Barefoot Bloggers: Roasted Onions

No time for a long post today ("there is a God!!" you say) -- the hubs and I are trying to get out of town for the weekend for our 10th anniversary, and I have to pack, go clothes shopping, buy presents for the weekend birthday parties, locate and remove all of the choking hazards to make things easier for the grandparents (without whom this trip would not be possible), install a plexiglass barrier over our railings because my 14 month old is trying to squeeze through the balusters, go grocery shopping (again), cook a big pot of chili so there is something in the fridge to eat while we are gone, and possibly redo my liquefied rice pudding. And clean. And hand sanitize in a borderline-obsessive way, because two of my three children have had the stomach bug over the past week, and I will cry a river of pitiful salty tears if the cooties strike me this weekend. I'll take the stomach bug, a cold and pink eye all at the same time if they will just hold off until Monday.

But first, roasted onions! This is a fun, unusual choice; of course, I'd expect nothing less from Kelly over at Baking with the Boys. Kelly's blog is your one-stop source for cooking fun -- where else can you go to find dimply plumosaurus cake, gigantimuffins and punk rock pie?

I didn't really understand the first instruction about how to cut the onion:

Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl.

I only understood the "place the wedges in a bowl" part of that. Even studying the picture in my copy of "Barefoot Contessa at Home" did not help me one bit. But I decided not to sweat it; I figured as long as I didn't go and do something crazy like mince the onions, they'd taste fine in the end.

My interpretation of removing the stem end/preserving the root end/standing onion on the former stem end/cutting through the formerly preserved root end:




Successful placement of wedges in bowl:




The dressing was fabulous. Coming right on the heels of not having butternut squash on Saturday, Publix did not have fresh thyme yesterday -- oh Publix, how you infuriate me sometimes! -- and there was just no thyme for a scavenger hunt, so I went with dried. But we thought the dressing was great; I think this would be wonderful on salad, too:




I love that there was no marinating time involved. I really needed that after the kugelhopf. Just toss the onions with the dressing and then put them on the pan as fast as your little heart desires:



They smelled wonderful while they were roasting! And looked great coming out of the oven:



We really enjoyed these! We had them with a rotisserie chicken from Publix (I pushed the Easy button there) and some mashed potatoes. While we liked these onions as a stand alone side dish, I would be more likely next time to toss them in pasta dishes or use them in paninis and on pizzas, etc. I will definitely make this again. Thanks, Kelly!

ROASTED ONIONS, FROM BAREFOOT CONTESSA AT HOME
2 red onions
1 yellow onion
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl.

For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the onions and toss well.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a sheet pan, reserving the vinaigrette that remains in the bowl. Bake the onions for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and browned. Toss the onions once during cooking. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with the reserved dressing. Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.