Make this soup! (it's cold outside)

All I wanted to eat yesterday was something that would be soothing on my throat. Ahh, sore throat syndrome has finally reached my body.

I browsed and browsed. I sought a simple recipe with few ingredients. Simple process. I found this on Smitten Kitchen - it's a recipe that had been adapted from Charlie Trotter for the NYTimes. I like that it can be completely vegetarian or, if you want a richer soup, you can use a meat stock, instead. I also like the clarity of the soup - the thinly sliced onions cook for almost an hour before anything is added to them and then, even when stock is added, it's completely clear! Just broth and onions! The herbs are infused by steeping them in the soup for just a few minutes wrapped in cheesecloth or, if you have none on hand, by tying them together with thread or stuffing them into large fillable tea bags, as I did.

The wild rice blend at the bottom makes the soup heartier, and the blue cheese croutons on top just make it more exciting! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Sweet Onion Soup with wild rice and blue cheese croutons
Serves 4-6

1/2 c wild rice (I could only find a wild rice "blend" which was fine)
3 T butter
2.5 lb vidalia or other sweet onion, sliced very thin
salt and pepper
6 c vegetable or meat stock, or 3 c stock, 3 c water
herb bundle (3/4 c chopped herbs, may include: tarragon, chives, basil, parsley, thyme)
baguette, sliced
olive oil (for brushing)
blue cheese

Cook rice according to directions on package. Wild rice should take around 45-55 minutes.
In a large pot or dutch oven, melt butter over low heat. Add onions. Toss to coat in butter, then cover the pot. Leave onions to sweat in covered pot for 15 min. After 15 min, uncover pot, stir onions. Add some salt and pepper, stir, raise heat to medium, and continue cooking onions another 25 min. You want the onions to be well cooked and tender, but not browned, so lower the heat if you need to. After 25 min, add the stock. Simmer over low-medium heat for an additional 25 min. Add salt and pepper to taste. In last 5 minutes of simmering, add herb bundle. When time is up, remove herbs. Brush the baguette slices with olive oil on each side and pop 'em onto a baking sheet and into the oven set to 400 for 5-10 minutes. When bread is warm from oven, spread blue cheese on top.
To serve, spoon rice into the bowl first, then add onion soup, and top with 2-3 blue cheese toasts. Enjoy!