Hamburger Vegetable Soup

I was having my father over for supper the other night and wanted to cook him something that was substantial and yet healthy at the same time. Usually he likes beans and wieners, but I wanted to cook him something much nicer than that.
He has hotdogs fairly often and I don't get to have him at my house for supper all that much. I wanted to spoil him a tiny bit.

One of his other favorite things happens to be hamburger and I just happened to have some hamburger in the freezer ready to use. I thought to do something for him with that.
I had been wanting to make Hamburger Vegetable Soup all Winter, based on a recipe I spied on a page called The Rising Spoon. It looked really healthy and like it was filled with things I already had in the house.

I like to use what I have if I can. I also didn't want to use a recipe which used loads of canned vegetables. First of all, with there only being two of us, I didn't want to make a HUGE pot of soup.
One of the things that appealed to me about this recipe was that I could adapt it to what I thought we could reasonably eat with some leftovers for him to take home.You can easily cut back on fresh ingredients, but once you open a can, its open and you have to use it all.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE HAMBURGER VEGETABLE SOUP
I am sure most of us have these things in our kitchens all the time. If not, you could easily adapt the fresh ingredients to include what you do have.

1 tablespoon of butter
1 small onion, peeled & diced
2 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
1 large carrots, peeled, quartered & thinly sliced
1/2 lb of ground beef
2 TBS tomato paste (concentrated tomato puree)
1 tablespoons of minced garlic
1 sweet bell pepper, cored & diced (I used red)
1 cup of shredded cabbage
1 medium russet potato, peeled & chopped
1 medium sweet potato, peeled & chopped
1 (14.5 oz/420g) tin of diced tomatoes in juice, undrained
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
3 tsp of Italian seasoning
1/2 TBS of sea salt or Kosher salt (plus more at the end, to taste)
1/2 tsp of black pepper (plus more at the end, to taste)
3 1/2 cups (840ml) of beef stock
1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
3/4 TBS white wine vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp of sugar

I buy my ground beef from a local farm market called Goucher's. It is locally sourced and organic free-range beef and is always very lean. You never have any fat to pour away after browning it, and it isn't full of nasty bits like gristle and bone.
Although she specified fire-roasted diced tomatoes, I just used regular diced tomatoes. For one thing I am not fond of having tomato skins in my food. The regular diced tomatoes worked fine and tasted delicious.
Hamburger Vegetable Soup

Tomato paste is what they call concentrated tomato puree in the UK. It is very thick. The vinegar/lemon juice and sugar help to cut back on the acidity of the tomatoes, so don't leave them out.
I tend to be quite judicious when I am using salt. All of us have high blood pressure and diabetes so we try to keep away from salt as much as we can. I also left out the crushed red pepper flakes as I was making this for my father, and he hates really spicy food.
Hamburger Vegetable Soup

The combination of chopped onion, celery and carrot is what is called a mirepoix in the culinary world. Generally speaking, they are diced very small. For this soup, they are left chunky in order to give the soup more substance.
Never underestimate the power of a mirepoix when it comes to flavoring things like soups, stews and sauces. It is almost like a magic elixir that elevates the flavors of these kinds of dishes and is very common in French cookery.

HOW TO MAKE HAMBURGER VEGETABLE SOUP
This is very simple to make. It does involve a lot of chopping, but if you prep all of your vegetables ahead of time, it goes together very quickly.

Measure the butter into a medium/large pot and set over medium/high heat. Once it begins to foam, add the onion, carrot, and celery. (This is called a mirepoix.) Season lightly, then cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.Add the ground beef. Season lightly and cook for about 5 minutes, browning and breaking the meat into small chunks as you go.Stir in the tomato paste and garlic. Cook for several minutes longer.Add the chopped pepper, cabbage, both potatoes, the tomatoes and their juices, crushed red pepper, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and beef stock.Mix well to combine and bring to a gentle boil. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for one hour, or until the vegetables are tender.Add the Worcestershire sauce, vinegar (or lemon juice), and sugar. Taste the soup for seasoning. If needed, add more salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, or Worcestershire sauce one teaspoon at a time to balance the flavors of the broth.Cook for about 5 minutes to meld the flavors.Ladle the hot soup into heated bowls and serve. Crackers or crusty bread go nicely with this as does a sprinkle of cheese on top, if desired.Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days and gently reheated. This also freezes well for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

I enjoyed my bowl of soup simply with some crisp crackers on the side. My father ate three baking powder biscuits with his and seemed to really enjoy this soup. He had a big bowl full.

I loved that it was healthy, low in fat and filled with lots of fiber. There was not an over-abundance of beef, but I feel that in a soup, that is quite okay! We all tend to eat far too much meat, so I found that quite pleasing. He did ask me what the cabbage was halfway through the meal. He is not fond of cabbage, but he ate it anyways and then told my sister it was good. I take that as a win!

This is soup weather for sure. These cold winter months nothing is more comforting than a hot bowl of soup. Here are some other hearty soup recipes in The English Kitchen that you might enjoy:
WINTER VEGETABLE SOUP WITH CHEESE DUMPLINGS Soup with dumplings? Count me in! Especially cheese dumplings. Simple to make and using simple everyday ingredients. It's also a great way to use up what's in the fridge. This is a deliciously hearty soup with plenty of vegetables, ham and fluffy cheese dumplings. I guarantee your family will love this!

HAM & WHITE BEAN SOUP A fabulously tasty soup filled with ham and white beans. You do need to plan ahead as the beans need soaking. One word describes this perfectly. Delicious. This isgorgeous ladled into heated bowls and served hot with some crusty bread.

Yield: 4Author: Marie Rayner