Every year as summer draws to a close, I find myself thinking about heating up the kitchen and filling the house with the wonderful aromas of hearty soups and stews.

It’s nice to switch our meal planning from lighter summer menus to traditional fall meals. Eating seasonally means enjoying certain foods when they are ripest and freshest. Autumn is the peak harvest time for many fruits and vegetables.

At the end of summer, the gardens are full of ingredients to create tasty one-pot meals, such as garden patch soup.

This soup is full of tasty and nutritious vegetables. It has been a favorite soup of restaurant patrons for over twenty years. That’s how it is. For over 20 years, my restaurant’s customers have counted on this soup to be featured every fall. The restaurant never stops serving customers’ favorite recipes.

The soup recipe calls for beef, but you can use chicken or pork or you can omit the meat altogether, adding more beans and vegetables. Leftover chili can be substituted for the beans.

As you can see, this soup recipe is wonderfully flexible. The recipe has as many variations as there are cooks, but however you choose to modify the recipe, it will be delicious.

The soup you make using this restaurant hit recipe will keep you and your family warm, healthy, full, happy, and grateful for the bounty of fall as the weather turns cooler.

Enjoy your restaurant soup recipe and the company of those you share it with!

garden patch soup
Preparation time: 30 minutes. Serves 8-10.

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 chopped onion

2 quarts of water

2 1/2 tablespoons seasoning mix in its juices (or to taste)

2 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix

2 1/4 teaspoons chili powder

14-ounce can tomatoes, chopped

7 ounces canned tomato sauce

8 ounces of whole kernel corn or an 8-ounce can with liquid 3 cups of vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, bell peppers, celery, or whatever you want and have available)

1/3 head of cabbage (1 1/2 cups), coarsely chopped

8-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (or leftover chili)

Instructions:

Heat water to boil in a stockpot

While the water is heating, brown the ground beef and onion in a skillet.

When the water boils, add all the seasonings, the tomato, the tomato sauce, the corn with liquid, the beans and the vegetable of your choice.

Drain meat mixture and add meat to soup pot.

Return to a boil and simmer until vegetables are crisp-tender.

Add cabbage and remove soup from heat.

Let stand for a few minutes to cook the cabbage.

correct the seasoning

Enjoy your soup and the great fall season.