Vegetable soup

The history behind this soup recipe is that it was given to me over twenty years ago by a woman I worked with.  The woman who gave me the recipe did not believe in measuring, so her written instructions included words like "sploosh of" and "splash of".  I did not like this, initially, since I am a very "by the measurement" kind of cook.  However, I have now learned that this was a gift to me; consequently, I am returning the favour by giving it as a gift to you, with no set measurements.

Not having a strict recipe to follow made me learn to taste the dish as it was cooking, and to add things as needed.  It also allowed me to put in more of the things I like and less of the things I don't.  I would suggest you do the same.  I would venture to say that there is no one ingredient in this recipe that "makes" the dish:  you could omit one or two things, or substitute them, and still end up with a delicious meal. 

This particular recipe, for example, calls for stewing beef, but I have made it as a pure vegetable soup by using vegetable bouillon and omitting the meat.  I have also made it a meat-lover's soup by adding ham and sausage to it.   I have made it with bouillon and without. 

You can also play with the size of the veggies.  If you like chunky soup, chop them bigger.  If you like more homogenized soup, chop them smaller.

Make this soup on a day when you can stay home and taste it as it cooks, so you can get it to perfection.  :)

The recipe:

* 6 c. water
* 6 beef bouillon cubes 
* stewing beef
* bag of peas
* carrots
* celery
* onion
* potatoes
* green bell pepper
* bag of corn
* zucchini
* 2 cloves of garlic
* 1/4 head cabbage
* 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
* garlic salt
* lemon pepper
* seasoned pepper
* oregano
* 2 bay leaves
* white cooking wine
* Worcestershire sauce

Combine the water and bouillon in a large pot and allow bouillon to dissolve.  Add all other ingredients.  Mix well and cover.  Stir occasionally while cooking over low heat.  (Takes approximately 4-5 hours.)

I should warn you that this makes a LOT of soup.  I use a stockpot to make it.  If you want to use a large crockpot, I would halve the amount of water and those few ingredients that actually have a measurement beside them. 

One thing that I learned is that it is difficult to buy just the right amount of some veggies for soup.   Cabbage is a good example.  So is celery.  The way I get around that is to buy enough to make TWO soups.  Then, while I'm cutting up veggies for the soup, I just cut enough up for two, and toss the extra in a large zip-lock bag.  When I'm done, I have one stockpot of simmering, lovely soup, and one bag full of all I need (minus seasonings and meat) to make a second stockpot.  I toss that bag in the freezer, and I look forward to the day when it doesn't take me all morning to cut up veggies for soup!  :)  (If you are using a large crockpot and halving the recipe, you can easily cut up enough veggies for three pots of soup!)

Here it is almost immediately after all the ingredients had been added to the pot.  It doesn't look like there is enough liquid, but you'll just have to trust me.  You don't need to add any more water.

Here it is, only about 30 minutes later.

And after about two hours.  (Pardon the blurry pic, but I couldn't get through all the steam rising up.)











Give it a try, and I would love to hear from you if you make it, but tweak it to fit your personality!