Actually, it isn’t so much the recipe as it is the method that makes my mother’s Super Fresh Vegetable Soup so good.
What’s her secret?
The garden is much nicer early in the morning, and the vegetables are so crisp! We picked some of everything that was ready:
- Green Lima Beans
- Black Eyed Peas
- Pole Beans
- Okra
- Tomatoes
- Corn
- Carrots
After you’ve peeled, shelled, scraped, and chopped, add the veggies to the meat stock. You don’t really need much meat, but you do need the bones – it just tastes better that way. We used a few beef short ribs and let them boil while we picked and prepared the veggies (remove the bones before adding the vegetables). Add salt, pepper, beef bullion, and any other seasonings that you enjoy, bring to a boil, turn the heat down, cover and simmer until the veggies are tender. One other secret method mother uses is baking the okra before adding it to the pot. It’s supposed to keep the okra from becoming slimy.
Later, when the soup is almost ready (and your stomach is growling because you’ve been smelling it cook all day), make some cornbread sticks or muffins – they are the perfect mate to fresh vegetable soup. I love to use cast iron cookware for this job. Add a little cooking oil to each stick or muffin section and heat in a 450 degree oven before adding the cornbread mix. That’s the secret to really crisp crust.
What more can I say?
Keeping it real,
Hey,
The blog is great! You need to add a few beef bullion cubes to the soup. The picture of me making cornbread is bad. Looks like I’ve had a long hard day picking butter beans or cotton. I don’t even remember you making that picture.
Love,
Mama
@Mother: Well, for someone who had just had major surgery, I think you were looking pretty good. I was surprised that you were able to help so much with picking the vegetables. I’m glad you mentioned the bullion. I’ll go back and add it to the ingredients.
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I think I will make this into a pot pie. i’ll add potatoes since my daughter loves them. You and your family are lovely. I don’t see anyone looking bad. It’s great that the soup was a hit. I’m a big fan of soups
@Opal: I’ll tell you who was looking bad. It was the one holding the camera – me! I had my daughter take a couple shots of me doing some of the work . . . you may notice that none of those got posted!
It was a little difficult for me to find green lima beans. but I succeeded.:) My husband loved your soup so thank you.