I’m sure most of you will agree that a bowl of good homemade soup is total comfort. Soup has a way of warming up the body while nourishing it with so many health benefits at the same time. I’m more of a broth base soup person, so I’m not really referring to the heavier creamy soups…not that those are bad, but they just don’t make me feel the same as a soup filled with lots of herbs and vegetables in broth.
Whenever I find that I have lots of vegetables in the veggie drawer that need to be used up, I usually make soup. This particular day I had a nice variety of veggies….zucchini, squash, carrots and green beans. Add some dried herbs, lean ground beef and chicken broth and you’ve got Italian Vegetable Beef Soup.
Italian Vegetable Beef Soup
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen
2 tb olive oil
2 zucchinis, quarter chopped
2 squash, quarter chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1-2 cups green beans, cut in 1 inch pieces
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
good pinch of salt and pepper
1 large can of Italian diced tomatoes, with juices
6 cups chicken broth
3/4 lb lean ground beef, cooked and crumbled
small cooked pasta, optional
Parmesan cheese, optional
In large stock pot, heat 2 tb olive oil and add zucchini, squash, carrots and onions. Cook for about 8 minutes until starting to soften. Add seasonings, tomatoes and chicken broth to pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Add green beans and cooked ground beef. Simmer soup for about 20 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve with Parmesan cheese and cooked pasta if you like.
Note: amounts of vegetables can be varied. Use what you have on hand.
We have a winner!! I used Random.org to generate a number and it selected…comment number 12!
Patsy from Family, Friends and Food is the winner of The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook! Congrats Patsy!! Patsy loves baking muffins and quickbreads…like it seems most of us do, myself included. Others enjoy baking cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, all good stuff! But I have to say, I would love to live near Anne Strawberry…she loves making pastry, which is something I would love to have someone talented like her teach me to do! If you’ve been to her blog then you’ll know what I’m talking about!
Congrats again Patsy! Email me your mailing address when you get a chance!
Thank you all for participating and leaving comments…I will be having another “sweets inspired” giveaway next week so stay tuned…
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Yeah!!! Thanks, so much, Aggie! I can’t wait to start baking from this cookbook!
My mom and I used to make a soup similar to this from one of the better homes cookbooks- it was fabulous! I agree…soup is just heaven this time of year
Congrats to Patsy and I hope you have a wonderful weekend Aggie
Congrats Patsy!
Aggie, the soup looks delicious. Would love some for my lunch today!
Nothing like a bowl of hot soup on a cold day.
It’s been so cold here lately I often don’t even feel like cooking but instead curling up on the couch with hot tea and a book underneath a warm blanket.
Wow, not only does this soup sound great, but your photos are incredible! I have a hard time with main dish photos, but I’m wondering if that is because I always cook our meals at night when there is no more natural light.
That looks perfect. I could go for some right now, it’s freezing out up here.
Soup is the way to go Aggie:D
Love these kind of soups, especially on cold winter days we’re getting here in Chicago. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
You’re too sweet Aggie. I’m loving the soup and if I made more of that and less baked goods we’d all be closer to our skinny jeans! Lucky for my husband, he has skinny genes… so he’s good to go.
And yet… I’m going to check out the Magnolia book anyways!
What a super comforting and hearty soup! I wish I had a bowl to warm up with tonight!
Aggie,
I make a very similar soup. I call it hamburger soup and I love soups like this as well. Today would be a perfect day for this, it’s cold and rainy. Congrats to Patsy…..I REALLY wanted to win but I’m glad she did!
i could really go for a big bowl of that soup right now!
That looks so delicious!
My dad makes a minestrone similar to this. I really love it with the crumbled ground beef. I stockpile it in my freezer. Your recipe looks fantastic!
I will take mine without the beef:)
I’m going to make this tomorrow, subbing beef stew meat for the ground beef. Sounds yummy — thanks!
YUM, that looks hearty and delicious. I like to make a huge batch of soup on the weekends and eat it for lunch all week.
BODA weight loss
Hey – just wanted to wish you and your family a Wonderful Merry Christmas! Can’t wait to see what you cook up for 2010!
I agree… greentea will give you energy.. its like whole wheat bread compared to the analogy of coffee.. green tea is just the best legal energy booster
I love beef soup and this recipe looks amazing! It’s just starting to get chilly here and I’m looking at fall recipes. I can’t wait to see what my husband thinks about this one. I bet the onion is delish.
-Sylvia
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Superb blog you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any forums that cover the same topics talked about here? I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get feed-back from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Appreciate it!
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