Say Hello to Soup!

Welcome back to Free Recipe Friday!
This week we dive into some soup.  Easy schmeezy soup.
Soup is one of the easiest things you can make – even if you
don’t think you can cook.  You can do it!
It’s also one of those recipes where a few ingredients usually makes A LOT!

This soup is similar to another of our favs, Beef Stew…
better known as Irish Beef Stew.
(Posted on Free Recipe Friday in November, 2011)
The main difference between the two is
the meat and the broth.
Beef Veggie Soup has a clear broth and the stew has a gravy type broth.
For the soup we use hamburger meat,
for the stew, typically round steak.
We tend to eat the veggie soup throughout the year
and the stew, either when camping or in the cold and dreary months.
In Texas, that could mean anytime of the year!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

non-stick spray

1 lb. ground beef

1 small, whole onion, diced

appx. 3 teaspoons minced garlic

1  16oz. pkg. frozen mixed vegetables

3-4 medium/large potatoes
(russet or red, your choice)

Beef broth – appx. 7-8 cups
(or 1 tablespoon of Better than Bouillon plus same amount of water)

Salt/pepper/garlic powder

Heavy stockpot

Water

(You could even add a can of diced tomatoes if you'd like
sometimes we do, most times we don't.)

WHAT TO DO:

Place your heavy stockpot on medium heat
and give it a good dousing of veggie spray. 
Next, dump in your diced onion,
minced garlic and hamburger meat, stir.

Add salt, pepper and garlic powder and
cook until onions are clear and beef is cooked through.
Stirring frequently.
If you have used a fairly good quality of ground beef,
 you can skip the draining step.  If not, drain the cooked meat
into a colander that you have placed in your sink.
Immediately place meat back into stockpot and return to the stove.

On a little aside, turn your faucet on hot water,
squeeze a drop or two of dish soap into your sink
 and let it run through your drain for a couple of minutes.
 This will keep you from having a clogged drain later!

Now on to the soup, add your beef broth to your meat mixture
along with your diced potatoes.  Stir to combine and bring to a boil.

Next, add your frozen veggies into the pot.
Bring back to a good boil.  Turn heat down a bit
and let the soup slowly boil until the potatoes are fork tender.
Approximately 15-20 minutes.  Turn the soup down to simmer.
Check for seasonings.  You will need to add a
teaspoon or more of salt and pepper at this point, I promise.
Depending on the salt content in your beef broth,
you may not need to add much salt though. 
That’s why it is important to taste while on the stove
and remember, it takes less salt on the stove
  than it does if you wait until it gets to the table.

Be aware that if you look on the ingredients list of your broth package
and salt is listed as the first ingredient, your product is mostly salt.
Bouillon paste (not cubes) is the way to go! I love these!
I’ve blogged about them before.  They are readily available on the soup aisle.
They have many other flavors depending on where you shop….
chicken, ham, even tomato!
They are very handy to have, keep for a very long time in your fridge
and add a great richness to
all of your soup recipes, beef tips, dumplings, etc.

Now, serve up your soup with some yummy
sweet cornbread, fried cornbread or Mexican cornbread…
crackers if you must.
We like a little cubed sharp cheddar to eat along with ours as well.
Mmmmmmm!

ENJOY!!!