Recipe: Healthy Hearty Soup

It's a cold and rainy Sunday in Georgia, so I decided it would be a perfect day to throw together a big pot of soup. Here's my perfect idea of a good, hearty soup for a chilly day! Pair it up with some cornbread or piping hot whole grain bread with butter, and let me know what you think.

Healthy Hearty Soup

 

Prep Time: 25 minutes 
Cook Time: 2 -2.5 hours

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients
1/4 cup Yellow Lentils
1/4 cup Green Lentils
1/4 cup Barley
1/4 cup Brown Rice
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Mini Pasta (I used alphabet pasta.  Choose your favorite)
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 cube Beef Bouillon (optional)
8-10 cups Water 
2-14 oz cans Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 cup chopped Carrots
1 cup chopped Cabbage
1 cup chopped Celery
1 pound Grass Fed Organic Ground Beef (optional)

Instructions

1. In a large soup pan bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Add all of the dry grain/pasta ingredients (lentils, barley, brown rice, pasta) and all of the spices (cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, onion powder, bouillon). Simmer for 1 hour. 
2. While your dry ingredients and pasta are simmering peel and dice carrots and celery, and chop the cabbage. Set these to the side, and in a skillet brown your ground beef. Drain the fat off of the beef and set aside.
3. After the soup pot has simmered for 1 hour add the carrots and cabbage. Simmer for 20 minutes.  Add tomatoes, celery and ground beef and simmer for an additional 25 minutes. 
4. At this point your soup should be done, but test your vegetables for doneness (we like them a little on the crispy side as opposed to mushy), and feel free to play around with the spices.  Continue to simmer until it tastes just perfect for you and your family

Note: If you make this soup without the salt, bouillon and ground beef it makes an *amazing* heart healthy meal!

Enjoy!