Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese Tart

 

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, 

so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; 

by His wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

Food for the Palate
Ingredients:
1 puff pastry sheet, thawed but cold

1 Tbsp olive oil
4 sweet medium onions, thinly sliced
6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tsp Dejon mustard
1 Tbsp of balsamic glaze
1 Tbsp of honey
3 oz. goat cheese
1/8 cup almonds, sliced and roasted
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions: Preheat Oven to 400F

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Sauté your onions until translucent on medium-high heat with olive oil. Turn down heat to medium and add garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Once incorporated, add your balsamic glaze, mustard and honey. Lower heat to medium-low and cook down for about 15 minutes until your onions are nicely carnalized. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Lay your thawed, but still cold, pastry sheet on top of the parchment paper. Score 1/2 inch around the edges of your pastry sheet, but don't cut completely through the dough. Spread your cooled onions on top of the pastry sheet but stay within the center of the scored boundary.  Sprinkle your sliced almonds over your onions and crumble your cheese all over the onions. 

Place in your preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Let cool and cut into smaller squares and enjoy. Tasty to the Palate!

Food for the Soul

Slicing onions is never fun! I have tried so many different techniques to keep from having my eyes sting and fill up with tears over the years and none of them help. But if you love onions you must prevail with tears and all! 

The onion metaphor has often been used to label the process of exploring a person’s soul. As layers are removed to reveal what is beneath, and as you get closer to the center, you start to see what the real problem is with the peeling of each layer.  And the hope is to find healing from concerns, behaviors, fears, hurts and struggles. Supposedly once you have peeled away the outer layers of your soul, you will find a way to cure your ailing heart. 

We all have been wounded emotionally, and healing is something that is very important. Some of us have deep wounds that can take a very long time to heal, and others seem to be able to acknowledge their scars and just move on. While there are bits of truth to applying the onion metaphor to discovering what is causing pain with the human soul, and life does come in layers, and sometimes we do weep, it is not going to give us the one and only answer that will ultimately heal a wounded soul. 

As a person continues to work on becoming healthier emotionally by peeling away the layers that ail them, and they put in all the hard work of being healed from those wounds, Scripture tells us that the layer that ultimately heals our souls is found in 1 Peter 2:24,“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.”  Jesus peeled away the last layer to our soul when He died on the cross for us. He took away all the sin, brokenness, pain and damnation when He died and rose again for our eternal healing. He truly is the "Great Physician" of our soul!   

By the way, did you know that an onion’s pungency results from the level of sulfur-rich oils the onion contains? During peeling or slicing, the volatile oil is released. The oil released is what causes eyes to water and burn when chopping an onion. Onions love the sun, and they need full sunlight to grow properly. And you and I, we need direct Son-light (Jesus) to flourish and continue to grow healthy spiritually. 

Here is a tip for you onion lovers: "If you cry when you cut an onion, just don't get emotionally attached."