Best Veggie Soup Ever

'The Hubs' was out of town at a bicycle race yesterday so he was grabbing quick food where he could find it and in the evening I treated a friend to a restaurant meal for her birthday--so no cooking for the family. I therefore concentrated on finishing up the beef veggie soup that I started the day before. Time and again I'm asked for the recipe for my veggie soup. I have to chuckle at that---who uses a recipe for veggie soup? I'm reminded of all the grandmas I've heard of who never used recipes--just a pinch and a handful of this and that. But, certain friends insisted I try to write it down, so I've managed to at least outline the basics. So, for you, Megan, when I'm gone you can make it for your family by doing this:

YUMMY BEEF VEGETABLE SOUP

When I make this soup I make a big batch. I use an 8-quart kettle.

1-1 1/2 lbs of stew meat (if you're a major carnivore, use 2 lbs). Sometimes I brown it in a little olive oil, sometimes I don't)

Place meat in stew pot, add 2 envelopes of dry Lipton onion soup mix and 2 quarts of beef broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook at low boil until the meat is tender--maybe 2 hours, adding liquid as needed.

Potatoes and carrots: 'The Hubs' loves carrots more than potatoes so if the soup is for us I put in lots of carrots--maybe 3 lbs. When I make the soup for others I just try to get a good balance. Yesterday I used 2 lbs of carrots, sliced about 1/4" thick and maybe 5 or 6 modest-size Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 1" cubes. Sometimes I add celery, sliced about 1/2" thick. Add veggies to the kettle.

Add 2 12-ounce cans of V-8 Juice and enough liquid (water or beef broth) to cover the veggies and cook at a low boil until tender. I don't want mushy veggies so I time this step carefully. I set a timer for 10 min. and check the potatoes and the carrots. Yesterday, after 10 min., the carrots were still a little crunchy but the potatoes were done. Uh oh. I was a little fearful that the potatoes would dissolve if I cooked them longer. That actually happened to me once. I delivered a pot of soup to a friend and noticed there were no potatoes in it....and I had added a lot of potatoes to the pot. I evidently left them at the low boil too long and they disappeared. The variety of potatoes does make a difference. Russets and reds are probably the safer choice. I used Yukon Gold because that's all I had and they seemed to cook faster. I set the timer for an additional 3 min. and the carrots were then tender and the potatoes seemed about the same so it worked out fine.

At this point I add the canned veggies: corn, green beans, diced tomatoes. I start out adding one can (15.5 oz) of each. If there's room in the pot I might add more of one or all three of those. As soon as these are heated through, the soup is ready to eat. I do taste test it. I rarely need to add salt, as the dry soup mix has plenty and seems to season it to my taste. If it tastes flat I'll give it a few shakes of onion and garlic powder and/or add some concentrated broth (a new product I recently discovered--it comes in little 6-paks, each containing about a Tablespoon of jelled broth)--maybe more V-8. It just depends on personal taste.

I like elbow macaroni in my soup but my husband does not, so I sometimes will cook a little pot of macaroni and add it to just my bowls of soup. I have a friend who doesn't consider veggie soup a finished product unless it contains chopped cabbage, so I'll add that if the soup is going to her.

I can't say for sure but I think what makes this soup special is the dry onion soup mix and the V-8 juice.

Enjoy! It's a real treat in cold winter months but truly wonderful anytime.