The past few weeks I have been taking a little break from posting on here. Frankly, I was feeling a little uninspired—not sure what I wanted to cook and share with you. I am a recovering perfectionist and sometimes when I feel like an idea or a recipe is not good enough (or creative enough!) I talk myself out of sharing it. This is ironic considering that I created this little corner of the internet as my creative outlet—and as a means of self-care, which means there is no place for self-judgment or the too loud critic. It also means that I need to allow it to be a true creative outlet and that means taking my perfectionistic foot off the performance gas. There is room at the table for success and failure—both are important in life and in cooking. So today, I share a recipe that is close to my heart and is tried and true, with no right or wrong way to make it. You can add or omit what you like and make it your own!

This is my grandmother’s beef-vegetable soup. She is beauty, she is grace. She is a one-pot wonder, with hearty meat, and plenty of colorful vegetables. Truly, I think this soup counted for 85% of my vegetable intake growing up. It is cozy comfort, especially on these gray January days.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound beef stew meat, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 4 stalks of celery and leaves, diced

• 2 1/2 cups chopped cabbage

• 1 cup chopped carrots (dealer’s choice on size: my grandmother liked to add whole baby carrots!)

• 1 package frozen corn (I like corn so I do a 10 oz bag)

• 1 package frozen green beans, 10 oz

• 1, 28 oz can whole tomatoes

• 2 potatoes, chopped

• 32 oz beef broth

• 4 cups of water (or just save the beef broth container and fill it up with water!)

• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, add your preferred cooking oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add meat and brown. I like to add a pinch of salt to aid in browning and build layers of flavor.

2. Once browned, add in onion, carrots, and celery. Cook for 5-7 minutes. Add a sprinkle of salt to help the water pull out of the veggies.

3. In a medium bowl, pour in whole tomatoes and crush by hand to your preferred size, or can crush with your cooking utensil once in pot.

4. Add in tomatoes to the pot and cook until tomatoes are simmering. I like for the acid of the tomatoes to tenderize the meat a bit further so I let it go close to 15 minutes.

5. Add in green beans, potatoes, cabbage, and corn and combine.

6. Pour in beef broth and water, scrape any bits off the bottom of the pot. If you need more water, add in until everything is covered.

7. Partially cover the pot with the lid and bring to a boil. Stirring occasionally.

8. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer, with the lid partially covering for 45 minutes to an hour. The longer this soup cooks, the better!

9. Taste for salt and pepper, add, cook for a few minutes more for flavors to combine and serve!