Peppery Baked Onions with Sage and 'Gruyere'

Here is another side dish that makes good use of vegetables still in season in the cold winter months. Serve alongside something hearty, such as stew or tempeh strips.

Peel and halve four, medium-sized yellow onions. Place in a 2-quart, shallow baking dish coated with cooking spray, cut sides up. Brush the tops with a teaspoon and a half of olive oil, and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 tsp. black pepper and 1/4 tsp. salt. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

Add 2/3 cup vegetable broth and 2 teaspoons soy sauce, and return to the oven. The recipe said for another hour here, but my onions really only needed 45 minutes. Either way, baste every fifteen minutes or so. (If you don't have a baster - a fairly unnecessary tool in a vegan kitchen! - just use a spoon to ladle some liquid over each onion half).

Sprinkle the onions evenly with 1/4 tsp. dried sage and 1/4 cup shredded vegan cheese, and return to the oven for a final 5 minutes. Try grating the vegan mozzarella block from Galaxy Foods in place of Gruyere called for in the original recipe. When you're in the spice aisle buying the dried sage, don't buy ground sage. Buy the dried leaf form, and rub between your fingers to crumble.

2 onion halves make a side serving of 110 calories.

Cost:
yellow onions $1.77
vegetable broth $2.69
dried sage $3.99
vegan cheese $3.39