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Whatever Soup
submitted by Glynda of OK 

The best thing about this recipe is its versatility; you can pretty much use whatever you have on hand as long as you have tomato juice and meat!  That's why it's called Whatever Soup, because you use whatever you have to make it with.

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Ingredients:

1-2 lbs of stew meat cut into small pieces (you can also use drained ground beef or ground turkey)
1 large can tomato juice
1 can sliced stewed tomatoes

Here's where the fun comes in, substitute any vegetables you like or have on hand.  They can be frozen, fresh or canned and drained.  Here's what I usually use:

1 pkg. frozen cut green beans
1 pkg. frozen whole kernel corn
1 pkg. frozen cut okra
1 pkg. frozen broccoli pieces
2-4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1-1/2 cups raw cabbage cut into bite size pieces

(I have also used hominy, diced onions, peas and lima beans with good results.)  

Directions:

Brown meat (I brown the stew meat in a little oil and season with salt and pepper) then drain.  Pour tomato juice, stewed tomatoes and all the vegetables into Dutch oven.  Add meat when brown.  Heat over medium to medium high until potatoes are tender.

This soup is really delicious when served with hot toasty cheese bread or garlic bread and, being mostly vegetables, it is also very healthy.  It's a tradition in my family that we always make this soup and cheese bread on the first day of cool weather to celebrate the fall, but it's also good any time of the year.

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