Now that I am dairy-free and egg-free (I do see myself needing to limit my dairy intake for an extended time, and possibly my lifetime), I am trying to come up with different ways to make the basic salad come alive, since cheese used to be my go-to flavor. Often times the salad is the last thing I think of in my dinner prep. I typically serve some main dish with a salad, each comprising of about half of our plates. I often times don’t even serve myself a true salad, but I’ll just put our organic greens on top of the main dish, like when I have meatballs, pizza (cheese removed for me), enchiladas (again, cheese removed), or really any other main dish, and then I don’t use dressing.
When I was watching Dr. Oz a few months ago with his special guest, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, I heard Dr. Fuhrman talking about jazzing up the common salad with interesting dressings. In addition he mentioned adding caramelized onions.
That sounded like such a great idea, and because I typically don’t want to turn on my stove to heat up one item, I thought I would try to caramelize my onions in the crock-pot.
Here is the way I cut my onions to easily make half rings. This also makes it easier to grip the onion.
- Remove the peel.
- Slice through the onion from the top to the bottom.
- Cut off the top and bottom.
- Place one half down on the flat side.
- Thinly slice through.
Ta-da!
Thrifty Thinking: As an aside, I don’t throw away my onion scraps; I put them in a bag I keep in my freezer and use them for making homemade turkey or chicken stock after I crock-pot a whole chicken or a whole turkey.
The Verdict: This recipe will make your house smell scrumptious all day! I had to resist opening my crock-pot and checking on these because the aroma was pulling me toward the slow cooker.
This would be a great addition on veggie burgers or most kinds of meats you may be serving. It’s also a great addition to vegetables.
The longer you leave the onions in the crock-pot, the more brown they will become.
The caramelized onions totally enhances the flavor of the salad. I will be keeping these on hand!!
Crock-pot Caramelized Onions
Ingredients
- 2 onions or more
- drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
-
Cut onions.
-
Drizzle with olive oil.
-
Cover, and slow cook for 2-3 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low, stirring every hour.
-
Enjoy on your favorite dish.
-
Refrigerate leftovers.
Have you ever roasted garlic in the crock-pot?
Great recipe – think I’ll try French onion soup. Thanks for sharing on WellnessWeekend!
Hi Gretchen, You are welcome, and thanks for visiting!
Now I understand why you have more than one crockpot! With how much I’ve been using mine lately, I think I should invest in at least one more! Thank you for blogging these terrific recipes twin 🙂
Hey Cheryl! Yes, I am crock-pot crazy!! One day this week I had my 7 & 6 quarts going each with a double batch of granola while I made quinoa in my 4.5 quart. What size are you thinking?? You are welcome, twinsy!