Moving along on the Fast Metabolism Diet, and I have to admit one of the things that’s pretty tough is the whole no oil/fat thing for phase 1 and 2. This recipe in the book looked like a winner for my family. It had all the flavors that even my picky daughter would enjoy. But I wanted to use the meat as a way to cook the vegetable base in the juices/fat from the meat-seeing as I couldn’t use oil. I thought this would richen the flavor.
The recipe in the book had all the ingredients thrown in a slow cooker after browning the meat. I made this on a Sunday when I was making a ton of other meals for the diet, and my slow cooker was being taken up by oatmeal. So I needed to make this in a giant stock pot. It worked out great!
Below is the adapted recipe, and I would admit that cooking some of the vegetables in the meat juice made the soup extra delicious.
Beef, Leek and Mushroom Soup, AMP’D UP
Ingredients:
2 lbs. boneless, lean stew beef
4 cups organic vegetable broth
4 cups organic beef broth
3 cups chopped kale (ribs removed)
2 cups baby spinach, roughly torn up
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 medium leek, white parts and some tender green, chopped up (around 1 cup or so)
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
Directions:
In a large stock pot, brown the stew meat in batches over medium heat until no longer pink. Transfer browned meat to a plate and continue until all browned. To the brown bits and juices, add the onion and garlic, and splash of water. Cook until beginning to soften, splashing water if things are beginning to dry up and brown up too fast. Scrape the bottom as you cook the vegetables.
Next add the leeks and soften, scraping the bottom.
Once the leeks are softened, add the broths slowly to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom as you go. Add the mushrooms and bring the pan to a boil. Lower the heat, and add the greens, salt and pepper. Stir well, and cover, leaving the lid askew to let some of the steam out. Simmer, with the lid on in this manner, on medium-low heat for 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally. I freeze the soup in single servings as well as reserve a bigger serving for a family dinner mid week, when phase 2 hits. This recipe does not yield as much as the others. You may get a family dinner and one or two single servings.
Flora is an award-winning creative director in Chicago turned food and lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. She is also author to the popular BEE NATIVE! gardening book series and various children's books that celebrate the wonder and hard work of bees and butterflies. Her blog and social spaces inspire thousands to create, learn, cook, grow, and craft, making their world lovelier one pixel/petal/seed/bite/stitch/brushstroke at a time. Follow her on all the social spaces, YouTube, and Amazon, and get creative!
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