Vegetable Beef Soup for People Who Zoom

Today, I found myself halfway through an unproductive, hour-long Zoom meeting contemplating a very important question: Should I turn off my camera and move my laptop to the kitchen so that I can get a jump start on chopping carrots? It would be very easy to set up my laptop on the kitchen ledge and listen to the presentation while prepping vegetables. My fear, however, is that the steam of sauteed onions might fog the camera, if I were, by chance, called upon to speak.

I resisted the urge and labored through the final twenty minutes of the program, then quickly jumped to my feet to cook the way I have learned best over the past 20 months: in 15-minute increments. What may come as a surprise, or none at all to those of you who have spent years being interrupted in the kitchen is that this fractured method of cooking often results in dishes that have a lovely depth of flavor. 

In our family, vegetable beef soup has traditionally been prepared with stew meat and at least one variety of legumes, most often black eyed peas or butter beans. The version I’m sharing today uses a few shortcuts, including ground beef and frozen vegetables, which makes it ideal for a weekday dinner. For me, it is worth a special trip to Whole Foods to buy their frozen vegetable mix which includes lima beans. 

For this vegetable beef soup, I browned the ground beef and drained it on paper towels, removing most of the fat from the pot but leaving the brown bits. I came back an hour later and sauteed the onions and carrots in the remnants of the beef fat, then added the tomatoes and tomato sauce. After yet another invigorating, virtual meeting, I returned to add the frozen vegetables, broth, additional seasoning, and the browned beef. The result is a hearty, cozy soup assembled during those beautiful, empty spots on your calendar that are wedged between calls and video conferences.

Vegetable Beef Soup for People Who Zoom

1 pound ground beef
½ medium onion, chopped
½ cup chopped carrots
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 teaspoon dry ranch seasoning
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 16 oz bag of frozen, mixed vegetables
4 cups low sodium beef broth 
1 tablespoon Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
2 bay leaves 
Salt and pepper to taste 

Brown ground beef in a pot over medium-high heat until no longer pink, breaking into small bits. Remove beef with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels. Discard any excess fat, leaving a teaspoon or so in the pan. Saute onions and carrots in the pot, scraping up browned bits from the pot as the vegetables begin to sweat. Once the onion and carrot soften, add the tomatoes and dry Ranch dressing, as well as pepper to taste. Add the following seven ingredients to the pot, and salt and pepper to taste. 

Leave to simmer on low for two to four hours, or until your workday is done. Remove bay leaves before serving. 

This dish is a hearty answer for those limiting carbs but still craving comfort foods in cooler temperatures. Of course, serving it alongside crispy cornbread would be mighty fine.