I think it is now heading into winter here in Southwest Michigan.  I woke up the other morning to 36 degree temperatures.  Yes, 36 degrees.  I am not ready for this.  Our summer was short on beach time because of cooler weather and now my fall is getting cut to start winter already?  No.

But, I felt like having something warm, toasty and delicious for dinner.  I knew I had 2 lbs. of ground beef to use thawing in my refrigerator so it became a Ground Beef Vegetable Soup.

What I love is that this soup can become whatever you want it to be.  Use up any of those last bits of vegetables in your refrigerator before they go bad.   This would be good with some zucchini, summer squash or even cauliflower.  Don’t let those vegetables go to waste.  Make a vegetable soup and freeze it if you don’t want to make it for dinner now.

Verdict:

Yummy!  Paired with a warmed loaf of French Bread and butter this was amazing.  My children both lightly sprinkled their bowls of soup with Parmesan cheese but I preferred mine plain.

This would be great frozen and then thawed on those cold winter nights.  I may just have to make a super batch this weekend to add to the freezer.  This recipe makes a HUGE pot of soup.  We had enough leftover for 2 large lunch servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground beef, lean
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red or green pepper, diced
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 16 oz. baby carrots, cut in half or thirds
• 1/2 lb. green beans, cut into thirds
• 1 (16 oz) can corn, drained
• 2 (22 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 3 tsp minced garlic
• Dried oregano, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1+ cups chicken stock

Directions:

1. Add Olive oil to the bottom of a large stock pot over medium heat.  Add peppers, celery and onions to the pan.  Cook for about 5-8 minutes until onions start to turn translucent.
2. Add garlic to the pan and stir well.  Allow garlic to become fragrant 1-2 minutes.
3.  To the pan add the brown ground beef.  Break the meat into small bite size pieces with the spoon as it cooks.
4. Once meat has cooked drain off any excess oil.
5. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot.  Stir well getting any browned bits off the bottom of the pan.  Add enough chicken stock to make it “soupy.”
6. Allow to cook for 30-40 minutes until all vegetables are cooked through.  Adjust spices according to taste and add chicken stock as needed to thin the soup.