Venison and Veggie Soup

With the evenings beginning to turn cool, and especially with us being at the deerlease, my husband requested soups and chili for a few of the meals while we are here.

Everyone has their method or recipe for the “ultimate soup” and I thought I’d share mine with you. This recipe is very simple and fast, and is a husband pleaser. It is chocked full of fresh veggies—I used frozen, fresh, or what I have canned. It is a from scratch recipe and most of the ingredients I just throw in ‘til it looks and tastes right. There are a few ingredients that I know how much I use, but for the most part I’ll just give you the ingredients and you can tweak it to your own taste.

1 lb ground venison or lean ground beef

1/2 medium onion, cut into large pieces*

Salt, pepper, and garlic powder, to taste

Brown meat and onions in a large pot. Add salt , pepper, and garlic powder. Add 2-3 quarts of water (I really have no idea how much I put, I just pour until it looks right) 3 8oz cans of tomato sauce. Stir well, bring to a boil and add the following:

1/4 large head finely chopped cabbage

Carrots, sliced

Potatoes, sliced or cubed

Peas (my favorites to use are purple hull or black-eyed)

Butterbeans

Green beans

Whole kernel corn

Return to a medium boil and boil covered for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (You want the cabbage, carrots, potatoes and peas to be tender.) Reduce heat and let simmer til ready to serve. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. You may need to add more water to the broth, or continue to simmer until the broth has thickened some.

* I put it in large pieces because we love the flavor the onion gives, but we don’t like to eat the actually onions. After the soup is finished cooking I remove the onions. If you like to eat onions, chop them as small as you like ;)