Texas Beef Soup

This was made to mend my dear Hubby.  Little Sister has infected us all.  It tears me up to see either of my babies sick, especially the little one.  The beans apparently were a bad idea, according to Hubby.  I liked the soup and had two servings along with iced tea and toasted 10 grain bread.

• 6 oz steak, cubed
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 dried chili pepper
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1 (15oz) can black beans, rinsed
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups stock (homemade, or any flavour)
• 1/2 cup water or white wine

Soften the onion, pepper and garlic, remove from the pot.  Brown the beef cubes and add the cumin.  De-glaze the pot with the stock, scraping up the brown bits.  Add the softened veggies and the remaining ingredients.

If you are a vegetarian, you could easily omit the beef and still have a great tasting soup.  It’s all in the stock you use, homemade is best and this batch had fennel as one of the veggies.  You can use all sorts of combinations to make a stock.  I keep a zip top bag of bits of veg in the freezer, another one for bones.  Add a few green cardamom pods for a citrus note.  Try a few chilies for kick!  Roast a whole head of garlic and add the pulp to the stock at the end or directly into the soup.  As Claire Robinson says: be your own chef!