News Taffy

At our house, the cooler fall weather means it’s time to make soup again! I don’t eat soup in the heat of summer unless it’s a chilled soup like gazpacho but I crave a comforting bowl of soup on a rainy night. Soup is so easy to make and you can pack it full of vegetables and no one seems to mind. Add some fun pasta shapes and even picky kids like soup.

Seriously, everyone should have several soup recipes in their recipe repertoire. Most soups are quick to make as long as you can wield a knife for some basic chopping, and often they will feed a crowd. Take the time to whip up a double batch of soup on the weekend and you can freeze several batches to heat up on those busy nights when you don’t have time to cook.

Besides being easy to make and feeding a group, many soups are filled with vegetables, making them a complete, balanced meal. One of my favorite things about soup is that I can feel good about serving it with no other sides. Of course, some cornbread or other crusty bread really completes the whole comfort food aspect of the meal, if you aren’t watching your gluten or carb intake that is. A nice green salad also rounds out the meal if there aren’t several vegetables in the soup.

Here is my all time favorite vegetable beef soup because it fits all the requirements mentioned above. I am making a batch today to share with a friend who is having surgery and it always freezes well. Besides chopping an onion and a bell pepper, all you do is measure and dump it all in a large stock pot. I like to put soup in gallon sized zip lock bags because they will lay flat in the freezer. When freezing soups that contain pasta, leave the pasta out and add it when you are reheating the soup. Pasta doesn’t seem to freeze as well though it isn’t horrible.

Vegetable Beef Soup

-3 lbs. stew meat

-1 soup bone

-40 oz. can tomato juice

-6 cups of water

-1 onion, chopped

-1 green pepper, chopped

-6 cloves of garlic, minced

-1 Tbsp. salt

-1 tsp. pepper

-1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

-1 Tbsp. chili powder

-1 tsp. garlic powder

-1 tsp. onion powder

-2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

-3 bay leaves

-2 -14 oz. cans diced tomatoes

-4 - 10 oz. bags frozen mixed vegetables, your choice

Sauté onion and bell pepper in 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large stock pot until lightly browned. Browning brings out a better flavor. You can skip this step. Add all ingredients except tomatoes and frozen vegetables. Bring to a boil, cover tightly and simmer for 2 to 3 hours or until meat is tender. Return to a boil, add tomatoes and vegetables and cook 5 minutes uncovered. Reduce heat and let simmer until ready to serve. Soup is even better the next day when all the flavors have gotten acquainted.