Veggie Soup

This is an easy-peasy yummy soup. It can be made either vegan or meaty. It's great either way. I like to make a big pot of it on Sunday afternoon and eat it for lunches. It also works great in a slow cooker a.k.a. a crock pot.



1 large onion (larger than your fist) chopped into biggish pieces

2 large red potatoes (fist sized) unpeeled, chopped into slightly larger than 1" cubes

3 cloves of garlic smashed and minced

4 Celery stalks chopped

5 Large carrots chopped (about 1lbs. bag)

6 Cups of veggie or beef stock ---reserve one cup---

1 Can of your favorite tomato soup

1.5 lbs of super lean stew beef (optional)

1 bunch of parsley chopped with stems removed-usually sold in the produce isle of the grocery store

1Tbls of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Tbls Flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Rosemary (either fresh or dried)

In a big pot saute the onions in the olive oil and salt over medium heat until translucent about 3 minutes. Add garlic and if using beef, add beef and saute for about 2 minutes. Add stock and tomato soup allow to come to simmer. Add veggies, parsley and rosemary. Do not bring to full boil and cook over medium/medium low heat until veggies are done (and meat is almost falling apart) about 4 hours. Dissolve the flour in the reserved stock and add to soup, bring to low boil and stir continuously to thicken soup. Stores really well in the fridge for about 4 days.

If using a slow cooker- combine all ingredients (except reserved stock and flour) and cook over medium for 8 hours. Dissolve flour in reserved stock and add to pot. Crank it up to high and cook it for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Yummy!