Vegetable Beef Soup: Another One Pot Wonder!!

In an effort to eat healthier and improve my life, I am trying to eat better.  Cleaner, as they say.  More fresh fruit, veg and meat and less processed food.  I don't know that I will ever be a totally clean eater, for several reasons.  First, I love all of the food stuffs that man has created (bread, pasta, dessert!!!).  Second, convenience.  I'm not about to start making my own tomato juice and I certainly don't eat enough chicken to accommodate the frequency with which I use stock.  Most days I just try to make the best choices I can based on my particular food cravings.  A dark chocolate covered banana bite vs. a Snickers bar, for instance.

This soup recipe is loosely based on the ol' Cabbage Soup Diet.  It's a great base recipe (albeit a terrible diet fad).  The soup is light but filling.  It's especially great in the winter, but it's not too heavy for the warmer months.  It is chock-full of veggies so it's really good for you.  Plus, it's super delicious.  I've beefed it up some (har har) to make it a little heartier.  The added protein means it'll stick with you longer.  And, I love any recipe that only requires me to dirty one pot!!

For my veg friends, please see the notes section below for making this completely vegetarian/vegan.

Vegetable Beef Soup*
Several T extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 pounds ground beef**
1 head green cabbage
1 bunch kale
1 yellow onion
3-4 carrots
3-4 celery sticks (optional - I had some left over, so in they go!!)
1 zucchini
2 64oz containers low-sodium tomato juice
1 48oz container low-sodium chicken stock
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T dried basil
Sriracha and Tabasco to taste (optional)
1 28oz can diced tomatoes, or 3 medium-large fresh, peeled and diced
1 15oz can garbanzo beans, lightly drained
Salt and pepper to taste

Start by grabbing the biggest pot you have in your kitchen.  Nope.  Not that one.  THAT one.  The one in the back.  The BIG one.  Put it on the stove.  It's gonna be there a while.  :o)

Place 1-2 T of EVOO (or your healthy fat of choice - coconut oil works great) in the pot and brown the meat over medium-high heat until juuuuust brown.  Salt and pepper to taste.  This will have more opportunity to cook later, so it's OK if there's some pink left.  Remove from heat and drain the meat in a colander.  Set aside.

Clean and dice all your veg:
- Remove the core from the cabbage.  Clean it by getting lots of water into that hole where the core was and thusly, between all those leafy layers.  Drain well.  Quarter the cabbage and then cut each quarter into thirds.  Chop into small bite-sized pieces from there.

- After rinsing, remove the stems from the kale.  You can fold the kale along its edge and cut it out, or you can simply hold the stem in one hand, the leaves in the other and rip them off.  Cut into small bite-sized pieces.

 

- The decision to peel carrots or not is a personal one.  Go with your gut.
- Make sure you de-rib your celery before chopping.  Instructions can be found here.

Without rinsing, return the pot to the stove and add another 2T of EVOO and all of the chopped veg except the zucchini.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and begin stirring/tossing your veg over medium-high heat.  (Carefully... the pot is going to be pretty full.)  As you stir, the veg will start to break down/wilt.  Continue stirring for 5-10 min until the veg has reduced some (my pot went from being about 3/4 full to 1/2 full) and starts to look tender.

Turn the heat to high and add one and a half containers of tomato juice***, the chicken stock, lemon juice and basil.  I added approximately 2t of Sriracha and a couple dashes of Tabasco at this point.  You can eliminate this step and let people individually add their own heat when serving.  Stir and bring soup to a boil.  Then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

Remove lid and add the meat, garbanzo beans, tomatoes and zucchini.  If your soup needs more liquid at this point, add some more tomato juice.  Turn heat to high and bring soup back to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for an additional 15 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

Serve as its own meal or with a salad or half sandwich.  Enjoy!

If you have enough containers to store leftovers in, great!  If not, I hope you have room in your fridge for a giant pot!  :o)


*This recipe makes a LOT.  You could easily half it, but I like to make a giant pot and eat it all week long.

**You can use any ground meat here, really.  Last time I used ground beef.  This time I used venison. You could also use bison, chicken, turkey or even hot Italian sausage so that it's more like an Italian Wedding Soup (sans noodles).  Or hell, add noodles if you're so inclined!  :o)

***Refrigerate any leftover juice that you don't initially use.  If you find you need more broth later in the week you can add more tomato juice, stock (if you have some on-hand) or water.

For vegetarian options, remove meat completely and substitute chicken stock with veg stock or water.