HAMBURGER SOUP

Back to the slow cooker; next step in the stove saga (epic?) is set for Saturday. We shall see. One thing about it, using the cooker for most meals encourages creativity. What can you put in the crock that will not taste the same as the last thing you cooked? Even though there are libraries full of slow cooker recipes, for me there are only a few things you can put in the pot and cook all day. I confess. I have gotten better at it, and I have figured out how to use lots of things from the refrigerator. Still…  I would be willing to bet that every slow-cooker aficionado out there has a recipe for hamburger, broth, and vegetables so this will not be an exciting post. But the recipe is very easy – and better than I had hoped.

RECIPE

Simmering in the slow cooker

Hamburger Soup

Hamburger Soup

A bowl of soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, chopped coarsely
• 4 cups beef stock
• 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• ¼ teaspoon ground thyme
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• juice of ½ lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Add the olive oil to slow cooker set at LOW. Stir in the onions, cover, and cook for a few minutes until the onions are translucent.
2. Stir in everything else: ground beef, carrot, potato, celery, beef stock, canned tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, garlic, lemon juice. Cook on LOW for 4 hours, longer on SIMMER or until the carrots and potatoes are fork-tender. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaves. Serve.