Beef, Bean, and Mushroom Soup

The weather’s cooling off (well, dropping to cool evenings and low 80s during the day—we call that cool in Mississippi) and that means SOUP.  Crock pot soups make a marvelous means of cleaning out the pantry dish.  I had some beef stew in the freezer that needed using and…after that it was pulling stuff out of the back of the pantry and saying “this looks good” and tossing it in the pot.  The end result was a shockingly flavorful soup that was a big hit with hubs.  It’s high in fiber, high in protein, and low in fat.  A winner.  Makes 4 enormous servings at  430 calories and 7.6g of fat.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs oil (olive, canola, or bacon grease)
• 1.5 lb beef stew meat
• 1/4 cup dried navy beans
• 1/4 cup dried northern beans
• 1/4 cup dried pinto beans
• 1/4 cup dried red beans
• 1 onion chopped
• 4 cups beef broth
• 4 ounces dry red wine
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, diced
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 cans sliced mushrooms
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. The night before you plan to cook this, put your beans in a large bowl of water to soak (or follow the quick soak instructions on the bag).

2. On cooking day, season up your meat generously with salt and pepper, and sear off in the oil over medium high heat.  You can use any oil, but I totally had leftover bacon grease and I swear it added an extra layer of flavor.

3. Add the beef, beans, beef stock, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and wine.

4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

5. In the last hour or so of cooking, add the mushrooms.

6. Serve up with your favorite crusty bread or a grilled cheese.

Printable version.

This steel magnolia is the poster child for successfully Doing All the Things, smart phone in one hand, sword in the other. Author of action-packed PR/UF for adults and teens. You can catch up with her at Pots and Plots, her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.