Johny suggested that I publish my recipe for vegetable beef soup, so here it goes.... Usually I make my soup during the weekend, because it takes time to prepare and for it to cook. I cook the soup on a woodstove, so I start first thing in the morning and build a good, hot fire. This serves two purposes, it quickly warms the house and it gets the stove ready for cooking. This won't be a precise recipe, because it's different every time I make it, and some folks may use more or different vegetables.
Anyways, I start with 1-2 pounds of beef. I usually buy whatever is on sale. Today's soup was made out of sirloin steak, but I've used London broil, and even chuck roast. I cut the meat up into bite size chunks. Using a medium sized pot, I either put in some olive oil or butter, just enough to coat the bottom of the pot. The meat is then added to the pot, and I sauté it on the woodstove until all the pieces are browned. This is an important step, since it seals the flavor into the meat. At this point I add a soup bone, if I have one available.
While the beef is being sautéed, I begin to cut up vegetables. I usually start with potatoes. Most of the vegetables and herbs used in my soup are from my garden, so this a great way to have healthy meals at a low cost. Back to the potatoes, often I use the smaller potatoes, because they're easier to cut up. These are the same potatoes which I use to make salt potatoes. I'll usually cut up 1-2 cups worth of potatoes into tiny chunks. I leave the skins on them because they're full of nutrients.
If I have fresh tomatoes, then I'll cut up a cup or so. If no fresh tomatoes are available, then I use some dehydrated tomatoes.
At this point the meat should be all sautéed. I add 2-3 cups of water, and then add the potatoes and the tomatoes, and cover the pot I'll then cut/mince up a bulb of garlic. And I'll also cut up 3-4 dehydrated peppers, according to the taste. This year I've been using some tabasco peppers, and 3-4 is plenty. I dump the garlic and pepper into the soup pot.
I next add various spices, depending upon what I have. Typically, I'll add basil, oregano and parsley, usually a teaspoon of each. I then let the soup get up to boiling and I let it simmer for a couple of hours.
After it has boiled down some I'll add peas, carrots, beans and corn to the pot, usually a cup of each. I try to use vegetables from my garden, but frozen commercial veggies will work fine too. I then add additional water so that the level of the liquid is maybe an inch from the rim of the pot. I then let the soup return to boiling and again let it simmer for a couple of hours.
This an excellent soup for an evening meal, after you've been outdoors all afternoon. There's nothing like hot soup, a freshly baked loaf of bread, and the penetrating warmth of a woodstove.
