Winter Recipes: Episode 2
Vegetable Beef Soup
Soup is the ultimate cozy food for my family.
The one thing that I HATE (or maybe love) about winter cooking and comfort food, is the carbs.
Why do we associate carbs and high calorie foods with comfort? I do it myself. The main reason that we think this way is because typically high calorie food and carbs, well, taste better. In my personal experience, they are also what we grew up with. Therefore, at least for me, they remind us of our childhood.
Not all winter meals have to be unhealthy or carb loaded.
You can actually still get a hearty and warm meal that is still low carb and healthy. WHAT?! I promise this isn’t one of those “healthy” meals that we’re all pretending to be good. This is the real deal vegetable soup. This is the healthy winter meal that you are going to want to make to help off set most of the holiday meals you will be eating this season.
What do I love about this soup?
1) You can clean out the vegetables in your refrigerator.
This recipe is versatile! You don’t have green beans? That’s okay! Do you have a random parsnip? Throw it in!
2) Turnips replace potatoes and I promise you won’t know the difference.
I know, I know, … Turnips. Give it a try. They are the perfect replacement for potatoes in this soup. My teenage son doesn’t know the difference.
3) It is quick and it is easy.
A lot of my recipes take time to build flavor. This recipe is made in an electric pressure cooker and takes about 15 minutes of prep, 15 minutes to build pressure and 30 minutes to cook. You can have this meal on the table in an hour!
4) It is a great soup to freeze
Depending on the size of your family, this soup will make enough for dinner, leftovers, and a freezer meal. I love things that taste just as good out of the freezer as they do when you make it. This is one of those meals.
This is a soup that everyone in your family will love. It is not only healthy and low carb, but also a classic.
Lets get started cooking…
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds cubed stew meat
2 Turnips
2 small zucchini or 1 large
green beans
8 oz mushrooms
1 large carrot
2 cloves of garlic
2 stalks of celery
salt and pepper
olive oil
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 dry red wine
8 cups beef stock or bone broth
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (can use dry in a pinch)
1 tsp fresh rosemary ( can use dry in a pinch)
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 bay leaves
Directions:
Begin by prepping all your vegetables. Dice the zucchini and turnip. Cut the ends off the green beans and cut into half or thirds. Quarter the onions. This is soup. Make sure that all the vegetables are manageable, but will still have some bite once cooked.
Dice your mirepoix and mince your garlic.
Now that you are prepped, it’s time to start cooking. Begin by using the “sauté” function on your pressure cooker. Add in a tablespoon of olive oil. Once it is hot , salt and pepper your stew meat and brown in batches, about 5-10 minutes per batch.
Once all your stew meat has been browned, set aside. Add the mirepoix, or carrots, celery and onion to the hot pressure cooker. Cook about 2-3 minutes and then add your minced garlic. Cook for an additional 30 seconds- 1 minute. Add in 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and cook from 2-3 minutes to get the raw tomato taste out. Then add in 1/4 cup of dry red wine and cook until most of the red wine has evaporated.
Next add the 2 quarts of beef stock, the diced zucchini and turnips, cut green beans and quartered mushrooms to the pot. Season with salt and pepper, thyme, rosemary, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder and bay leaves.
Close the lid on the pressure cooker. Turn the pressure release handle to the sealing setting. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. Use the natural release for 10 minutes and then release the remaining pressure.
This soup is a go to in our home. I’ve made it more times than I can count. We were so excited to eat this that I forgot to take an end picture! You are going to have to take my word for it. Make this for yourself and send me pictures of your final product!
