Thursday, March 27, 2014

Spring Is Late? Have Some Stuffed Pepper Soup


There's no use complaining about the weather, is there?  Still, we do.

After living in western Pennsylvania for most of my life, I should be used to long and cold  winters. And I guess I am.

Usually, come February, I ache to be able to mow the yard or weed the garden. (Let's see if I remember that in June.)

And now it's the end of March, and we're still mucking frozen horse sh*t in the barn every morning and pounding frozen water out of the drinking buckets.

Enough is enough. It has been one, l-o-o-o-n-g winter. And so, we complain. Mr. Rosemary said:
   "We just have two seasons: winter and non-winter."
Let's just suck it up and remind ourselves that spring will come. Or maybe we'll just go straight into summer.

At any rate, these cold days are great excuses to make hearty, comforting soups -- like this stuffed pepper soup.

I have to admit, I'd never made stuffed pepper soup before, mostly because Mr. Rosemary isn't a fan of stuffed peppers in the first place. I reasoned, though, if he likes chili, he's got to like this, too.

He loved it. And while it was good,  I thought it needed a little something more. I've been advised, though, not to change a thing.

And so I won't.

        


Stuffed Pepper Soup
adapted from All Recipes
makes about 8 servings

2 pounds ground beef (or turkey; I used a mix of ground beef and venison)
1 green pepper, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce                     }I used the equivalent of my own
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice  }tomato sauce which is pretty chunky!
2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 cups cooked white rice
Shredded cheddar cheese, for serving

In a soup pot or Dutch oven, brown the meat over medium heat for about 5 minutes and drain off any fat.

Add the chopped pepper and onion and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the they're softened.  Add all the remaining ingredients -- except the rice -- and simmer, covered for at least 20 or 30 minutes. Then add the cooked rice and heat through. Serve topped with shredded cheddar cheese.

16 comments:

  1. Winter and non-winter - I love it! Well, Rosemary, I think a thaw has set in with this gorgeous, colorful soup! It is certainly central heating for tummies. Stay warm!

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    1. Mr. Rosemary has a pretty quick wit, Hester. I'd like to get the two of you together!

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  2. What a lovely bowl of soup and it looks so comforting too with the sprinkling of cheese. I've never made stuffed pepper soup either. You've brought back memories of my mother's stuffed peppers. As a child I ate the stuffing and left the pepper :)
    Sam

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    1. Although I love pepper snow, Sam, as a child I did they same thing. (the peppers were too mushy)

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  3. Replies
    1. Today it's in the mid-fifties but windy and cloudy. Still, it's not bitter cold and it's not snowing, Rebecca. Hallelujah!

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  4. Don't mind if I do Rosemary. This is so tasty.

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    1. It's easier to make than the real deal dish, Val, and I'm a sucker for any kind of soup, really.

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  5. Stuffed pepper sounds delicious! That soup looks just right to keep warm on those cold evenings. Cheers! J+C

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    1. It was good and warming. Still confounds me, though: Why does my husband dislike stuffed peppers but the soup he liked! Go figure.

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  6. I love stuffed peppers and I know I would definitely like your soup. We still have lots of snow on the ground but are supposed to have rain in the next couple of days which should melt some of it. I'm looking forward to seeing grass even if it isn't green. :)

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    1. It's a rain day here, Karen. Although I know we'll still have freezing temperatures and frost over the next few weeks, I do believe we've seen the last of the snow.

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  7. Mmm I never realised you could make soup out of stuffed peppers, it looks so gourmet :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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    1. I honestly think you can make soup of almost anything! As a kid, I remember stirring up my ice cream until it turned into soup!

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  8. That looks like a fun soup. Looks easier than stuffed peppers, but just as tasty.

    I'm sick of winter too. We had such a brief reprieve earlier this week and now we have bits of snow on the ground again. I don't know about you, but I'm caught between seasons as my horses are shedding and covering everything I own with hair. It seems like they have their own ideas about weather.

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    1. It's not like I don't like parts of winter -- I don't think I could live where I didn't see a change of seasons. It's just that it's been such a long one, and I'm getting older and the horses's still need tended. I'll live but what a welcome spring this will be!

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