Easy Meal: French Onion Soup

French onion soup is one of those classic staples that is surprisingly simple to make. It uses very few ingredients and is a great way to make your own hardy meal on the cheap.

Things you'll need:

1 large pot with a lid (large enough for 9 1/2 cups of fluid with plenty of room to spare)
1 cutting board
1 knife
serving bowls or mugs that are about 4-5 inches in diameter (about the diameter of a slice of french bread)
1 oven heated to 425F degrees
1 nonstick  flat cookie sheet or pizza pan
1 toaster

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter (that's one whole stick)
2 tsp white sugar
2 tbs flour
3 cups thinly sliced onions
7 cups beef broth (7 tsp. beef bouillon and 7 cups water)
1/2 cup dry red wine
2  cups water
1 loaf french bread
8 oz. sliced Swiss cheese
1 tsp. thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Step 1:
In the large pot, melt the butter and stir in the sugar.

Step 2:
Add the sliced onions to the pot and cook them in your butter/sugar mixture for about 10 minutes. This process is called caramelizing.

Step 3:
Add the flour and stir until well blended.

Step 4:
Add the water, wine, bay leaf, thyme, salt, pepper and broth and bring to a boil.

Step 5:
Reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour. Honestly, the longer you leave it to simmer, the better. I once left it simmering for closer to three hours and it turned out fantastic, but 1 hour should be fine.

Step 6:
Heat the oven to 425F degrees.

Step 7:
While the soup is simmering, slice the french bread into 1 inch slices and lightly toast them. If you don't have a toaster, use the oven.

Step 8:
Ladle the soup into bowls and place a slice of toasted bread over the top of each, then lay a slice of Swiss cheese on top of the toasted bread.

Step 9:
Place the bowls on a cookie sheet and bake them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes - until the cheese melts.

There you have it! I hope you enjoy!