Marvelous Vegetable Soup

Bev's Note:

I've tried all kinds of vegetable soup recipes and always come back to this one. So easy to do with the use of a food processor to slice the vegetables. This is a great basic recipe. Please feel free to alter it to suit your taste. I sometimes use vegetable broth or beef broth in place of the water which gives the soup a richer flavor.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 50 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 2 lbs stewing beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 6 cups water
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 (15 ounce) can green beans (or use frozen)
• 1 cup frozen corn (or use canned)
• 1 small zucchini, sliced (optional)
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 large turnip, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup black-eyed peas (frozen or canned) (optional)
• 1 (15 ounce) can green peas (or use frozen)
• 1/4 head cabbage, shredded (optional)
• sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon seafood cocktail sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• salt
• fresh coarse ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Brown beef in hot oil in a heavy, large stock pot; add 3 cups water.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours.
3. Add carrots and remaining 3 cups water; bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes.
4. Add remaining ingredients; cover and simmer additional 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Yield: about 8 quarts.

Reviews

[Dan'l]

This is far and away the best vegetable soup I have ever had. When I eat it I feel like I am at home wrapped in a warm blanket. I am convinced this soup has special healing powers for winter maladies. It is better after it has aged in the refridgerator for a day.

[Christalina]

This was so yummy! Substitutions I used: Ground Turkey instead of Beef (as I don't eat much beef). Fire roasted diced tomatoes instead of plum tomatoes. Left out the black-eyed peas, onion, zucchini and turnip because I ran out of room in my pot! I used balsamic vinegar instead of worcestershire and seafood cocktail sauce. I used Daikon tops instead of cabbage. Even with all of these changes... what a great base recipe to start from! LOVED IT! Thank you :)

[DDW]

Good Soup Bev! Made the recipe "as is" but used beef broth instead of water. It was very tasty and we enjoyed the flavor. The cocktail sauce adds some great flavor and it is hard to distinguish what the flavor is you are tasting in the soup unless you are the one who prepared it. When we had some leftovers we added some more horseradish right to our bowl of soup and I think that addition even takes it up a notch.