Ragout of Cipollini Onions, Tomato, Cinnamon, and Cumin

Eat this as a side dish as it is, or try serving it over rice!

Sprinkle 2 chopped garlic cloves over the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cut 3 large tomatoes (about 1 and 1/4 pounds total) in half, and place the tomatoes, cut-sides down, over the garlic. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. black pepper, and lightly coat with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool in the dish - the original recipe didn't specify if they should only cool slightly or all the way, but I was impatient so just gave mine about 10 minutes of cooling.

Transfer the tomatoes and garlic to a blender, but leave the cooking liquid in the pan. Puree the tomato mixture until smooth. Strain through a sieve over a bowl, and discard the solids. Add the reserved cooking liquid to the strained liquid; set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 pounds peeled cipollini onions - yes, it will be a little bit of work to peel all those onions, but it actually took less time than I would have imagined! Saute for 8 minutes, then remove the onions from the pan.

Add 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/4 tsp. ground cumin and 1 cinnamon stick to the pan; saute for 1 minute. Return the onions to the pan, along with the pureed tomato mixture, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. black pepper, 1 cup vegetable broth, 1/4 cup dried currants, 3 thyme sprigs, 2 bay leaves and 1 (3-inch) strip of orange rind; bring to a simmer over medium heat, and continue to cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. By the end, the sauce should be thick and the onions tender.

Remove from heat and stir in 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed orange juice and 1 teaspoon organic brown sugar. Remove the cinnamon stick, the bay leaves, and the orange rind. The original recipe didn't say to remove the thyme sprigs, but I'd imagine you'd want to, as well.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro over the top, and you're ready to serve! 2/3 cup is 150 calories.

Cost:
garlic $0.57
tomatoes $5.48
cipollini onions $2.73
vegetable broth $3.00
dried currants $
thyme $2.49
orange $0.89