BB: Herb Roasted Onions

I was really excited to try this week's Barefoot Bloggers choice because I love roasted vegetables. I've already roasted onions before, usually mixed with potatoes and green peppers in olive oil, a little vinegar, rosemary and garlic. But I was intrigued by Ina's choice of thyme, dijon mustard (which I love with the intensity of 1,000 suns! No joke - I think I add it to almost everything and anything I can. Dijon mustard ice cream anyone? No, just kidding...) and lemon juice. It sounded quite tasty. She of course just serves the onions by themselves, but for me that is just not going to cut it. I like onions, but not that much. To me, onions are there to enhance and spruce up the flavors of other foods, not to be eaten solo. That's just my thought though. I just couldn't see myself eating a pile of onions as a side dish, and since I wasn't making steaks to go with this meal I figured adding potatoes would be the best bet.

So I followed her recipe to the letter, but added three diced red potatoes to the onions. I also ended up doubling the marinade to have enough for all the potatoes and onions. These turned out very good. I think I even like the marinade better than what I used before! Ina hits one out of the park again. This is the perfect side dish for fish, chicken or meat. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe if you're interested:
Herb-Roasted Onions
2 red onions
1 yellow onion
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl.

For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the onions and toss well.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a sheet pan, reserving the vinaigrette that remains in the bowl. Bake the onions for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and browned. Toss the onions once during cooking. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with the reserved dressing. Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.

(I used all the dressing when baking my potatoes and onions instead of drizzling the reserve over top. It turned out fine and very flavorful. Also, I baked them in a baking dish instead of a sheet pan and that worked fine as well.)