Allow me to begin today’s dining DoAhead with a confession. I wanted to share a recipe for savory chocolate bars today but I couldn’t think of a single DoAhead that applied to the recipe! I may break down and share the recipe some day (they are THAT good) but in the meantime I’m going to post the most amazing Vegetable Beef Soup recipe on the planet.

Doc swears this concoction is medicinal (I think it’s the cabbage). Regardless, I’m guessing it will be the last hooray for soup around here (I’ve had a long chat with God about the cold weather and I’m certain spring is coming). The grand thing about soup is that when made in big batches it’s one of the best DoAhead’s ever. Our tribe will re-heat soup for lunch, supper or have it in the oven waiting for us after church. Soup is the nuclear weapon in the arsenal of DoAhead Dining.

Enough jibber jabber. Soup’s for supper!

Vegetable Beef Soup

Ingredients:

1 Cup Barley

3 Potatoes (large), peeled and cut into bite-size pieces

3 Carrots (large), peeled and cut into bite-size pieces

4 Celery Stalks (large), cut into bite-size pieces

2 cloves of crushed Garlic

1 cup of Frozen Corn

1 cup of Frozen Cut Green Beans

1 cup of Cabbage, chopped

1 medium Onion, chopped

1 quart Stewed Tomatoes

Stew Meat (2 to 3 pounds-depends on how meaty your family likes their soup)

Lightly spray a large roaster with cooking oil. Place the stew meat in the roaster and liberally sprinkle with garlic salt. Fill the roaster 1/2 way with water. Bake in the oven for approximately 2 hours at 275. (Cooking low and slow will allow the meat to tenderize and also create a tasty broth. Just be careful that your soup doesn’t cook so long that the water begins to evaporate.)  After the meat has cooked stir in the quart of stewed tomatoes, barley and veggies. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If your soup needs a little more flavor add some beef bouillon. Just be careful. Some over the counter bouillons are loaded with chemicals. Read the label. The less ingredients the better.

Continue to cook soup until veggies are tender. (If I’m in a hurry the oven get’s turned up to 350 and soup will be ready in a little over an hour. If I’m working at home and the soup can sit, I set the temp at 300 and walk away for 2 hours. Again, the key is to make sure you don’t “cook away” your broth by having the temperature too high for too long.)

Hope your tribe enjoys one last round of soup as much as ours will!

Your DoAhead Friend,