Grandma’s Vegetable Soup

You can see I fill the pot!

I was fortunate to spend many summer nights with my grandmother in my childhood. When she asked me what I wanted to eat, I always requested her vegetable soup.

My grandmother didn’t have  a written down recipe to use and she would probably just say “Oh, it’s just a little bit of this and that.”  To this day, I still try to make her soup, since for me it is the ultimate comfort food.

I love making big batches of my version and then freeze it for lunches throughout the month.  My husband loves it too and requests for me to make it when the freezer surplus is low.

I have actually been asked for the recipe by many, but I don’t have one written down either.   However, I will do my best to get you started.

Southern Pot of Vegetable Soup
Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1 small onion chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 large bag of frozen mixed vegetables ( I get the kind with corn, carrots, and green beans)
1 smaller bag of frozen lima beans
1 can of black-eyed peas, drained
2 cans of diced tomatoes or stewed tomatoes
Italian seasoning
Any other seasonings such as a dash of marjoram, bay leaves, basil, garlic powder
salt to taste
*any other vegetables you want; like potatoes, more corn, okra, etc

Directions: Brown ground beef with onion and garlic.  Drain.  Next, in a large soup pot, combine the ground beef with all of the vegetables and seasonings to your liking.  Cook on low to medium heat and once the frozen vegetables are cooked, then simmer for 20-30 minutes.  The southern way would be to enjoy it over rice with cornbread.   Eating it with Ritz Crackers is also delicious.

I will never be able to fully replicate my grandmother’s soup since I don’t have the jarred canned tomatoes that I think must have been the secret ingredient.  By the way, she turns 97 years old today and though not in great health, she is still with us.  Maybe there was another secret ingredient in that soup after all.

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