Soups & stews/4 recipes

Easy 4-ingredient beef stew with stewing beef, onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, and sherry baked low and slow in a covered casserole. A dump-and-bake comfort classic.

Hearty vegetable beef soup simmered 4 hours with stewing beef, split peas, potatoes, carrots, corn, lima beans, spinach, and tomatoes. A true one-pot meal for cold days.

Homemade vegetable broth simmered 3-4 hours with onions, garlic, carrots, celery, leeks, potatoes, and soy sauce. Freeze in containers for a rich, low-fat base for soups and stews.

A light yet delicious Chinese dumpling soup. The dumpings are made with several kinds of veggies, smoked tofu, shiitake mushrooms, water chest nuts, and black fungus, tossed with soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil. Simply wrap it up with store-bought wonton or dumpling wraps.

There are hundreds versions of this very Polish soup. Here you have an original proposition of mine. I used to cook it on the base of my favorite duck and chicken stock. The cream is a must to create wonderful pink color. Optionally you may add a quarter or a half of hard boiled egg to your bowl. By the way, I change my recipe sometimes, for instance by adding dried California prunes instead of sugar, or by adding some white vinegar instead of lemon juice.