here is the full written recipe for the Beef Vegetable Soup that i have video blogged (see right) in a 12 minute format. there is a lot of chopping, and in retrospect, i should have made it a five minute video by using the fast motion setting upon editing. there’s always a next time. well, not always… but with most things there is. the key with this soup is to not speed through the cooking time, as it is a vital component in achieving a super tender bite of meat in each spoonful. you want something close to a high simmer, if there is such a term.  i literally ate the entire pot of this soup that i made recently… over the course of four days. my son helped a bit, and had two or three servings. daughter and husband would not eat any. daughter because she’s picky… husband because he does not care for soup as a rule. i was happy, frankly, to have it all to myself. i love knowing exactly what went into it, and knowing every single bite is going to be hearty and delicious.

OK, HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:


fill a large soup pot (i use an 8 qt stockpot) a little over half full with warm water. Begin trimming your beef cubes (2 # pkg) to bite size pieces. Add to water once trimmed. Turn on high heat under the pot. Cut a small head of green cabbage into bite size pieces (ok to just use 3/4 of the head if you feel like too much cabbage for  your liking) and add to pot. Open and add entire 28 oz can of whole tomatoes to pot. Add four beef bouillon cubes to pot. bring to a boil, then reduce heat to this ‘high simmer’ i spoke of earlier. Cook for 2 hours, stirring a few times and skimming top of pot occasionally if film develops.  

After two hours, begin to add other vegetables:

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (just rip a bit off and chop- no need to measure); five peeled and diced carrots, celery + celery leaves, 1 large diced onion, 1 diced fennel bulb, one diced sweet potato, and whatever else you want to add. other options could be a quarter cup of barley, a can of corn, a half cup of frozen peas, etc.  Add salt, pepper, and dried thyme to taste throughout cooking time. start off with a teaspoon of salt, and a half tsp of pepper, and then go from there.

Bring to a boil after adding all of these items. Reduce heat immediately to medium, and cook for another half hour or until veggies just tender. Around last three minutes, add some chopped zucchini.  serve this soup over any kind of noodles you like, or just as is. i used little ‘italian hats’ pasta this time, and my son thought that was the bee’s knees.

enjoy!!