"Mexican" stew with roast beef and guacamole

So Sunday while we were at church someone walked into our house and swiped some of our portable electronics - laptops and cameras:( It was one of those "I thought you locked the door" situations that will probably NEVER happen again. Don't worry about feeling silly folks. ALWAYS ask/check to make sure your spouse, kid, friend did indeed lock the door on the way out. The laptop covered in stickers from travels around the country you save could be your own. Fortunately the only irreplaceable things they got were the pictures from our anniversary trip, and they were mostly of kayakers.

But life goes on, and supper must be made. I fixed this soup last night for dinner - easy, yummy, and a great meal to eat while watching Philadelphia Story with Allen.

Ingredients:

1 small roast (around 2lbs - larger if you're feeding more people)
3 carrots
1 bell pepper
2 onions
2 sm-med zucchini
fresh or canned tomatoes
frozen or fresh corn kernels
red wine
beef stock
salt, pepper, cumin, chipotle powder, marjoram
fresh sage, garlic, and parsley

(For the guac)
3-4 ripe avocados
red onion
fresh cilantro
1 lime
salt

Corn chips for garnish

Method:

I've discovered that adding chunks of roast to a soup dresses it up so much more than using plain ground beef, and it's almost as easy! Plus you get that wonderful jus.

Around lunch time season your roast (I had a small eye round) with salt and pepper and place in a dutch oven/roasting pan with some beef stock (or bullion) and red wine. I cooked mine for about 4hrs @ 300 degrees and then let it rest in the oven while I prepped the rest of the veg.

About an hour before serving put some oil to heat in your soup pot while you dice your veggies (except tomatoes) and add to the hot oil along with 3-4 cloves of finely chopped garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Then add your can of tomatoes and about 1 1/2 cups of corn along with enough water to cover. Your roast should be very tender. Pour the jus into a measuring cup and drop a few ice cubes in it. Cut the roast into chunks (or shred) and add to your soup pot. Skim the (by now should be solid) fat from the jus and add to the soup. (If you can resist eating it with a spoon right then. Mine smelled that good!)

At this point add some large pinches of ground cumin, a sprinkle of marjoram, and a small handful of chopped parsley. I also threw in a four leaves of chopped fresh sage since I had it on hand. Test for salt and add chipotle powder to your heat tolerance.

While that's cooking go and peel your avocados and plop them in a bowl with 1/4-1/2 a finely chopped red onion, a handful of chopped cilantro, and the juice of half a lime. Tip, start slow with the lime - maybe 1/4 of the juice. Once it gets bitter the only solution is to have another avocado lying around. Ditto with the salt. Remember that corn chips can be very salty.

Smash all the ingredients together (I like to use a pastry cutter) until you like the texture and set aside until you're ready to eat. When the soup is done ladle it up and top each bowl with some crushed tortilla chips and a large dollop of guacamole. My husband isn't doing dairy right now, but some shredded cheese would be great on top as well. Either way better take the chips and guac to the table with you. And beware of seconds. This soup is addicting.

This made enough for two hungry adults (one of which who ate more than she should have) with leftovers for the next day, so I'd say that it should feed a family of five just fine. It's a great way to use up whatever you've got in the fridge. I could see making this with spinach or peas or sweet potatoes (that's what I should have added!) or yellow squash or black beans. Ditto the herbs. It's really about what flavors you like and what's currently in your fridge/pantry. It's also great when you've got folks who might have dairy/gluten allergies or are low carbing it.

Seriously, this one is a winner.

Beef and Veg Soup with Sweet Potato

Speaking of food I thought I'd better get this recipe down while I remember it. So after all the brew pub burgers and diner fare we enjoyed while traveling through Northern California last week I figured it was time to dial things back about 4 notches and get a little dietary repair work done. Since we hadn't gone grocery shopping since getting back home this soup ended up being a tasty conglomeration of leftover veggies and freezer stash foods. It's a variation of the old classic "brown up some hamburger and toss in a bunch of veggies with some tomato product" that we all know and love. Allen and I both really enjoyed this soup. It's filling but light. I think between the two of us we ate half the pot. I was also excited to see an actual brothy soup emerge instead of the wet casseroles I often make (yeah, umm, I've made soups that have ended up thicker than most stews. It's a habit I'm trying to break.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2lb ground beef
1 large onion (think cat head large)
6 or so carrots
1/2 bag frozen spinach
1/2 bag frozen corn (I used trader joe's roasted corn which I love because you get a great roasted/smokey/char flavor in soups without having to actually roast/smoke/char anything yourself)
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
2lbs (approx) of peeled, diced sweet potatoes
any other veg you can scrounge out of the fridge (in my case one zucchini and a bell pepper)
seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, beef stock

Method:

Just about what you'd expect. Brown your meat together with the onion and quickly saute your veg to start them cooking. I sauteed the sweet potato in a separate pan with some butter, salt, garlic, cumin, and coriander thinking that getting them a little brown might help the flavor, but I can't tell how well that worked. Anyway, once your onion is soft pour in the can of tomatoes, add your frozen veg, stir in a tablespoon of bullion, fill up with water, and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through.

For seasoning I started with basic salt, pepper, and garlic powder (I was out of fresh) to taste and then started playing around with the cumin and coriander. You want enough cumin so that you get a earthy, smoky sort of heat without it going full on tex-mex. I'd start with 3/4 tsp and go from there. Ditto for the coriander. You should taste the coriander but not be overwhelmed by it. Toss in some cayenne to taste.

Serve with some cheddar cheese sprinkled on top.