Never-Ending Vegetable Beef Soup (and a Menu Plan)

Our planned meals last week didn't go exactly to plan (which is fine - it's a plan, not a mandate), but other than one forgotten night out, planning did a good job of keeping me focused on necessary things like vegetables that needed to be used and freezer items that needed to be taken down and thawed.

Overall, it felt balanced and ranged between easy and fast to put together, and a couple new recipes and techniques to try, with varying results.

Last week's plan is here, but here is what it became in reality:

Monday 6/11

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

(Made a meat sauce that includes some collard greens in it)

There is no real recipe for this - the link there shows our usual way to make Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti. This time, I added in a bunch of collard greens (washed well, stems removed, and chopped) into the spaghetti sauce while it was simmering.  This is an easy way to get some nice nutrient-rich greens into a favorite standby!  And of course you can do this to your own favorite sauce and use actual pasta, if you prefer.

Thursday 6/12

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

Zucchini Spiral Cut 'Noodles'

Stir-Fried Mixed Veggies 

(onion, celery, carrots, snow peas)

This was going so well - the chicken cooked fine in the crockpot, the veggies stir-fried and tasty.  I used a Spiralizer on two zucchinis, and it worked like a charm!  Then I made the error of mixing the zucchini noodles into the stir-fried veggies, where they promptly got very mushy and ugly (so no pictures).  The taste was ok, but the texture was unpleasant - next time, I'm going to leave the zucchini noodles raw and just let the juices from the meal soften them up without making them mushy.

Friday 6/13

Bacon Wrapped Bratwurst Bites

Sauteed Beet Greens

Roasted Asparagus

This is not a picture of mine - it's one of my daughter and son-in-law's version, and it is incredibly delicious. We used pure maple syrup and Siracha (because that's the hot sauce we had) and both the brats and bacon were locally sources.  We put ours up on a rack to cook and I suggest following their version and just flipping part way through - mine came out a little dry.

Saturday 6/14

BIRTHDAY PARTY POTLUCK

Made a big tossed salad  for potluck, using a lot of our fresh veggies. Wound up buying a commercial vinaigrette.

Sunday 6/15

Neither of us were all that hungry - ate leftover salad, along with some cheese and rice crackers.

Monday 6/16

Pub Moot @ Dogfish Head Brewery

(I ate a big salad with grilled chicken, shrimp and bacon)

I forgot we had our monthly meet up so after this, the plan went pretty off-plan.

Tuesday 6/17

Use Up Your Veggies Beef & Veggie Soup

This. Was. Awesome. Recipe at the end of this entry.

Wednesday 6/18

LEFTOVERS

We had to go vote during dinner prep time, so - More soup for dinner!

The soup is also spending time in a crockpot where more veggies and add-ins are going in as needed, so it's morphing as we go, available for lunches.

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THIS WEEK'S PLAN

(I plan from Thursday - Wednesday because we get a locally sourced grocery delivery on Wednesday evenings):

Thursday 6/19

BOARD MEETING - Michael cooking

Tandoori Salmon 

(marinated in spiced yogurt - I have this prepped in the fridge, ready to be broiled)

Roasted Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes
Cucumber Slices with Yogurt-Dill Sauce

Friday 6/20

Chile & Cheese Stuffed Chicken
Steamed Cauliflower

Saturday 6/21

MIDSUMMER

Potluck. 

Bringing a chopped salad: snow peas, cucumber, zucchini, carrots, grape tomatoes,tossed with a vinaigrette

(because we got two tons of snap peas in our box yesterday)

Sunday 6/22

Flank Steak with Mushrooms

Assorted Veggies
Salad

Monday 6/23

Chicken Soup and Veggies

(make enough for lunch leftovers)

Same plan as last week's soup, only with chicken

Tuesday 6/24

TRIVIA NIGHT
(eating out)

Wednesday 6/25

Bourbon Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Cole Slaw

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I wanted to share what we did for the soup this week.  This is a template - use any proteins you have on hand, any vegtables you have available.  Add broth, water, anything from the pantry that sounds good and finish with seasonings of your choice.  The one below is just what I did this time - it turned out great, but by all means, mix it up to suit your taste and needs.  You can find another variation of this sort of thing here: Clean Out Your Larder Slow Cooker Meatball Soup.

Use Up Your Veggies Beef and Veggie Soup

1 lb ground beef
3 T. fat (coconut oil, tallow, lard or olive oil)
3 cups (at least) chopped vegetables - I used onion, carrots, celery, green beans and zucchini
1/4 cups grain (I used brown rice.  Barley, millet, quinoa, etc, would also do.  Optional!)
1 large can roasted diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
3 cups broth (I used homemade beef broth from my freezer)
spices to taste: red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning blend, parsley, salt and pepper
water as needed

Brown the ground beef in the fat in a large stock pot.  Once cooked through, add chopped veggies and saute until softened.  Add tomatoes and beans, then add broth and spices.  Throw in grains if you're using them. If it looks too thick to simmer, add water so that it can simmer and thicken.  As with most soups, this does better the more time you give it to simmer and meld.

Second day variation:
After a night in the refrigerator, Michael removed a portion for his lunch at work, and I turned the remainder into a slow cooker (and yes, I could have started there if I'd thought of it).  I added some more broth, and a bunch of chopped rainbow swiss chard (stems and all), along with a can of chickpeas, to simmer away for the day, and this became dinner.

Third day variation:
More broth, along with some red wine, and some sliced mushrooms, and more greens, along with some refreshing of the spices, and this will see is through lunches over tomorrow and Saturday, at least.

I am truly loving this never-ending soup pot!

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