Beef and Vegetable Soup

I think soup is the perfect winter food, when it is cold and blustery outside I just want a warm bowl of comfort. Vegetable beef soup is both nutritious and low calorie, especially if you use homemade beef stock.  My beef stock started with some meaty soup bones, they were meaty enough to provide 2 generous cups of shredded beef.  If you didn't have this available, 2 cups of shredded beef from last nights roast would work fine.

The meat was so tender that it practically fell off the bone and separating it from any fat or tendons was easily done with a tongs and knife when it was just out of the stockpot warm.

The vegetables you use are really just an individual preference.  I used Mark Bittman's recipe from his book "How to Cook Everything" as a guide and added in the vegetables we had on hand, carrots, green beans, celery and corn, I also had fresh rosemary available so that was used for flavoring.  It makes a very tasty soup and as Mr. Bittman himself says in his book "most meat soups are more like stews...but [this is] lighter, more soupy than stewy".

Beef and Vegetable Soup
~adapted from "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman~

2 cups cooked shredded or cubed beef
1 onion, chopped
6 cups beef stock
2 carrots
1 celery stalk, diced
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen green beans
2 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a soup pot, saute' onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the stock and bring to a near boil; reduce the heat to a steady bubble, add the beef, carrots, celery, herb sprigs, and bay leaf and stir; cook until vegetables are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.  Remove the herb sprigs and bay leaf, stir in the corn and green beans, sprinkle with salt and pepper; taste and adjust the seasoning.  Serves 4 - 6.

Sense of Home / Recipes / Soups, Stews, Stocks and Chili

This post is linked to:
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Real Food Wednesday