Sweet Cabin Life

FREEZER SUMMER SOUP

Every year as the crops begin to ripen faster than we can eat them, or I can throw them in a jar, my counters become crowded with fresh vegetables and I start making Summer Soup. It is a blend of fresh vegetables with a tomato beef broth and lots of ground beef, herbs and seasonings. 

The recipe is super simple…just think “2”.

I start by adding 2 cups beef broth and 2 cups water to a stock pot. 2 16oz cans tomato sauce. 2 6oz cans of tomato paste. Shred and add 2 cups cabbage. 2 cup of diced potatoes. 2 cups fresh corn. 2 cups chopped carrots. 2 diced stalks of celery. 2 cups green beans. 2 1/4th inch slices of sweet yellow onion diced. 2 extra large tomatoes cubed. (pealed and seeded) 2 heaping tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon beef paste. 2 tablespoons Worchester sauce. 2 tablespoons each of finely diced fresh chives, parsley and basil. 2 teaspoons black pepper.

In a skillet I completely brown 3 (NOT 2) pounds of ground beef, drain and add the beef to the stock pot. I have found that 2 pounds just isn’t enough ground beef for this much soup.

 I add salt to taste after soup is done because the Better Than Bouillon and the Worchester sauce are both pretty salty. I have found if I add it at the beginning I usually get it too salty. And we use saltine crackers in our Summer Soup which adds even more salt.  So beware and salt lightly.

I heat the soup on high until it reaches a hard boil that I can’t stir down. Then I turn the heat down to low and let it slow boil until all the vegetables are tender, stirring often to prevent sticking on the bottom of the stock pot. It takes about an hour on slow boil for all the vegetables to get tender and the water to boil off so the soup starts to thicken.

 

When done, I pour it into quart jars, being careful not to fill each jar more than 3/4ths of the way full, allowing plenty of room for expansion as the soup freezes and expands. 

I have kept summer soup frozen for up to six months and it always tastes as good when re-heated as the day I froze it. It would probably last much longer in the freezer than just 6 months but I have never tried it. I have always ran out by the 6 month mark even though I make several batches to add to the freezer each summer.

Summer Soup is such a great way to use your summer bounty. It tastes great. It freezes great. And it is so handy to have on hand on busy days when there isn’t time to cook. Pull a jar out of the freezer, pop it in the microwave and dinner is served.

Hope you make a pot yourself and that your family enjoys it as much as we do on busy fall days or cold winter nights.

Dianna

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