French Onion Soup in 15 Minutes

Winter time is the season for soup. Its a hearty meal that will fill you up but won't add to your waistline. One of my favorite soups to enjoy is French Onion. My mom has an excellent recipe to make from scratch, but we're going to tell you how to create a delicious homemade meal with a few shortcuts.

Pull these ingredients together:

• 4 cups Campbell's French Onion soup
• 1 medium onion
• Thick french bread, sliced
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Let's get cooking!

Pour the soup into 2 or 3 bowls that are oven and microwave safe. Microwave the soup base for 2 minutes or until desired temperature.

Slice the french bread and place into toaster oven, or broil on high for 2-3 minutes each side.

While the soup is warming and the french bread is toasting, slice an onion in half and then into strips about 1/4 inch thick. Saute on medium high heat until soft.

Divide the sauteed onion among the soup bowls, top with a toasted bread slice and then about 1/2-3/4 cup of grated cheese.

Broil for approximately 5 minutes until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

Be sure to carefully remove and handle the soup bowls. We've found that its best to place them onto plates at the table. Warn guests that the bowl will be hot. Do not serve to children under age 6!

A few other alternatives to the steps above. Instead of Campbell's, try another soup base. We enjoyed Pacific Natural Foods Organic french onion. Each serving is only 30 calories (before bread and cheese!).

Instead of french bread, use thick croutons. This will speed up your serving time by several minutes.

Finally, experiment with different cheeses. When we enjoyed French Onion Soup today, we added a three cheese blend - Parmesan, Romano and asiago. Its easy to adjust this meal to suit your individual tastes!

Do you have any other alternatives for this basic recipe? Please share in the comments below. Enjoy!