I eneded up going for a light lunch with my parents yesterday. (By light, I mean I had a small plate of fries) My mom had a bowl of ukranian hamburger soup. It looked and smelled amazing! As a kid I used to hate hamburger soup. I am not entirely sure why, because it wasn’t as if I didn’t like any of the ingredients. As I grew up it became one of my favorites. After my mom told me how yummy it was (and offered me a taste, which I politely declined) I started thinking: Can you make a vegetarian version of hamburger soup? I decided I was going to try.
You will Need:
1 tsp minced garlic
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 small onion, diced small
2 stalks of celery, chopped small
1/4 of a bag of mixed frozen vegetables (mine included peas, carrots, corn, green beans and lima beans)
1 package of Ground Round. I used regular flavor, but you can use whatever flavor you think is yummy
A good 2 tbsp of chili powder. I just used the regular chili powder, since some of the powders out there can be a bit spicy
About 1 tbsp poultry seasoning
3 rounded tsp of Knorr Vegetable Broth mix
1 small can of diced tomatoes, drained
I also added a small bit of napa cabbage. Cabbage gets sweeter the longer it cooks, so it made a nice addition to the soup.
What you Do:
In a large pot sweat your garlic, celery, carrots and onion over medium heat with a bit of oil. Once the veggies are starting to get soft, add the frozen mixed veggies and continue to saute for another 5 minutes. Add the chili powder and poultry spice.
To make the broth I just added the vegetable broth powder into my pot and filled the pot 3/4 of the way full with water.
Add your veggie Ground Round and bring to a slow simmer over medium-low heat.
Add salt and pepper to taste, and if necessary add some more chili powder and poultry spice.
I also like to add either a handful of rice or barley to the soup towards the end. (By a handful I mean 1 or 2 palmfuls. Not enough to make it glompy, but enough to add some texture) If you choose to do this, if you are adding just plain instant white rice, just add to the soup and heat until the rice is cooked. If it’s brown or wild rice you may want to cook it seperately and then add it, as sometimes it can color the broth and ends up looking not so tasty. Barley can also be boiled in with the soup, but if you are hesitant you can also cook this seperate and add at the end.
I am a firm believer that a good bowl of soup like this should be served on a cold night with a nice warm woodstove blowing, and some really yummy crusty bread for dipping. I am so glad that fall is just around the corner!