Ema’s Hearty Meat and Vegetable Soup

Loaded with soft meat, root vegetables, and fresh herbs, this is a full hearty meal in a bowl.

Sometimes when I think of soup, I think of a starter or a first course…..something light and yummy but not necessarily a real meal. 

This soup is not that. The first time I tried it, my sister in law cooked it up before the fast of Yom Kippur. This was just one rung of the ladder. She also made kreplach(meat filled dumplings), honey garlic chicken, rice, rosemary olive oil potato wedges, baked sweet potatoes, hummus basar, and peanut butter Rice Krispies. No she is not normal. Yes I remember the whole meal.

The soup was the first thing to be served and it was so good that I could barely try anything else. (I did, of course, take little bites of everything), buuuut I had three huge bowls of steaming Meat and Vegetable Soup and would have been content at just that.  There was so much flavor going on it was really just incredible. 

On request, I discovered that this recipe is my mother in laws. She’s amazing so no surprise that her go-to soup is amazing as well.

The extra flavour comes from the generous amount of meat(you want to choose a good cut, something that will fall apart like buttah).

We also will be using two types of soup mix- chicken and mushroom(love this stuff)! I used to think that using soup mix was cheating, but on closer inspection  you will find that soup mix is really just a concentrated mix of spices.  It’s a great shortcut to a lot of flavor. I always buy a brand with no MSG(my go to is Osem, which looks like this), and only natural flavours. 

Perfect for a chilly winter night, this hearty soup will fill your belly and warm your soul. Go get it!

Love, Estee

Hearty Meat and Vegetable Soup

Estee

Packed with flavour and soo delicious, this soup is perfect for a winter night!

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Cook Time 3 mins

Total Time 3 mins

Course Soup

Ingredients

  

• 1/2-1 kilo ( one to 2 pounds) shank meat(#8), or asado
• 2 Tbs Canola oil
• 3 onions (2 diced, one cut in half)
• 6 Garlic cloves diced
• 1 zucchini cut into small cubes
• 4 celery stalks cubed
• 2 sweet potatoes cubed
• 2 carrots cut into little circles
• 1 Tbs chicken soup mix (I use Osem)
• 3 Tbs mushroom soup mix
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Black pepper
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• half a bunch of fresh dill washed and dried
• 14 cups water(or less if you are making a smaller pot!)

Instructions

 

Prep

• Cut meat into small cubes. Dice 2 onions, and mince all of the garlic cloves.

Saute

• Heat up 2 Tbs of oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add diced onion and garlic and saute until golden- you want the onions to caramelise to get all that flavor! If they are browning too quick lower the flame. While the onions are cooking, prepare veggies and set aside. Add meat to the onions and cook for a couple minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant.
• Add in vegetables and spices.
• Add water to the pot- this will depend on the amount of soup you are making. Cover the veggies with an inch of water. I usually make a huge pot of soup and use 14 cups. Lay dill on top, cover with a lid, and let simmer for about 3 hours. Taste(add salt if desired), and serve hot!
• To freeze: Let soup cool and divide into plastic containers, leaving about 2 inches for ice to form. I like to freeze soup in 2 portion sizes so we can reheat one container at a time for dinner!