Quick and Easy French Onion Soup

I don't know about you but I lead a busy, full life. Many days I don't get home till after 4:00 and by then I don't always have time to consider, let alone put together a nutritious, well balanced meal. That's where emergency rations come in really handy. I have a list of five healthy meals that are easy to put together and require few ingredients. I always make sure I have the ingredients on hand in the freezer or cupboard and everyone in the family knows how to put the dishes together. Over the next five weeks I will be sharing these dishes with you with a list of the emergency rations to have on hand. Our favorite is French Onion soup with Buffalo. It's fast, it's easy and it only has a few ingredients and those you can play with.

You'll need as Emergency Rations (keep these on hand):
2 cartons Imagine French Onion Soup
olive oil
onions
garlic
carrots
pasta
green leafy vegetables

French Onion Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
1 pound buffalo
1-2 containers of Imagine French Onion Soup (tetra pak)
2 carrots, sliced (optional)
1 cup green leafy vegetable of choice (optional)
1/2 cup uncooked spaghetti like pasta (we use the inexpensive white rice noodles as they cook up fast)

Heat oil in soup pot. Add onions and garlic when oil is hot but not smoking. Saute for 4 minutes or until onions have started becoming a little translucent. Add buffalo and brown breaking it into smaller pieces and turning the heat down to low medium. Add a bit of soup if the pot gets too dry. This should take about 5-10 minutes depending on whether the meat is frozen or not. Add soup, carrots, and green leafy vegetables. Add pasta when carrots are soft and cook until desired tenderness.

Preparation time including cutting vegetables about 30 minutes, shorter if the meat is fresh.

Vegetarian Alternative:

Add 1-2 cans of chickpeas instead of buffalo and reduce your preparation time by about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese over each bowl of soup.
Add cubed pieces of tofu instead of meat or chickpeas and sprinkle green onions over top as garnish.

Kitchen Chick's Menu Planning Tips

Ask your family what their favourite meals are and add them to your list.
Plan your meals around a palm size portion of protein, add a grain or other carbohydrate, vegetables and then choose a seasoning or sauce to complement your choices. EG. Monday's dinner: Protein-tempeh, Carbohydrate/Grain-quinoa, Veggies-carrots, broccoli, corn, tomatoes, Seasoning-Tex-Mex combo. Now you have a better idea of what to create, chili, stir fry, pilaf, casserole, etc.

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SBI!