So, the holidays have passed and gone, leaving us in frigid and cold weather. And cold weather calls for soups and stews.
We are lucky that the grocery store by us sells a mix of vegetables to make this soup, all ready and packed up. All you have to do is wash, cut and cook them (and add more carrots, the pack does not have as many carrots as I like it). But, it really makes it very easy. If unlike us, you do not have access to ready to use veggie soup pack in your grocery store, have no fear! I listed the ingredients below.
As for the spices: paprika, tarragon and cloves were the ones I had on hand but I am sure this recipe is open to some improvisation by adding other dried or fresh herbs into it as well.
For the meat, I usually use a bone-in chuck roast, the meat is not super lean, so it lets out some fat during browning. It has some bone to add some flavors, and it when it cooks it is very tender. If you are not a big fan of bony meat, you can use boneless stew cuts, as lean as you like them.
But the real key to this recipe is to first brown the meat and then make a roux 
(fancy term for adding flour to some fat and browning it), cooking the meat separately with the spices and the broth to develop the meat flavor before adding the vegetables. Finally, cooking the whole soup at lower heat and slowly, so the flavors really have time to bloom. You can make the recipe gluten-free by using a gluten free flour for the roux, I have had good success using a gluten free baking mix or just coconut flour.
Beef and vegetable stew
about 1lb of bone-in chuck roast (or more if you want a meatier soup)
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp of flour
3 cups of vegetable broth
about 6 cups of water
Vegetables:
1 cup of carrots, about 1/2 inch thick slices
3 stalks of celery, about 1/2 inch thick slices
1 zucchini, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 corn on the cob, cut in three pieces
1/4 of a cabbage, roughly cut about 1/2 inch thick
2 medium size red potatoes
2 medium sized onions
1 chayotte (optional), cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
Spices:
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp tarragon
1/4 tsp ground cloves (or 3-4 whole cloves)
Salt, as needed
Heat up a large pan, brown in the beef on medium heat. If it gets very sticky with lean meats, you can add a little bit of oil. Once the meat is brown, add in the crushed garlic, mix to coat and flavor the meat. As soon as the garlic starts to brown, make the roux by adding in the flour and mixing again to coat all the meat and mix with a wooden spoon until all the meat is coated. Mix while cooking until the flour has browned and add the vegetable broth and the spices. Salt as needed. Cover and bring to a boil, then cook on medium-low heat until half the broth is gone (about 20-25 min).
Once the broth had reduced, add in all the vegetables at once and as much water as necessary. The water should just cover the vegetables. Check the salt and adjust as needed. Bring to boil again, reduce the heat to medium-low and then cook for about 1.5h.
Serve as is, with a side or rice or with a slice of bread.
littlesillychef 