Hamburger / Bean Soup

Hamburger / Bean Soup

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This appears to be a Weight Watchers recipe since there are point values assigned.  In the early 2000's both my mother and I participated in Weight Watchers after my sister successfully completed the program.  I found success on the program too but did not maintain it long-term.

I decided to brown the meat first, remove it from the pan and then use the same pan to simmer the vegetables.  I didn't see the need to dirty a second pan just to brown meat.  I'm very glad I chose a large pot to make this in because I needed all of it.

Unfortunately my pandemic meat was not very lean so after removing the ground beef I poured out the grease and wiped the pan as well.  

I intended to purchase matchstick carrots for this recipe but was given a box of produce in a pandemic distribution that included several nice carrots so I just peeled and thinly sliced it.  I only used approximately 1 cup of each vegetable since none of us are overly fond of these vegetables.  

I sauteed the veggies for just a bit before adding the broth.  

I figured a can of broth is about 10 oz.  x 3 = 30 oz so I used a 32 oz. box of broth.  Then I filled the measuring cup from the vegetables with water and poured it and half again into the box and shook it around before pouring the water into the pot.  I let the first round simmer for about 7 or 8 minutes.

I drained the top juice of the beans and gave them a bit of a rinse.  After adding beef, beans and tomatoes the pot simmered for 15 minutes before I added the spices. 

I don't really know the point of adding olive oil - perhaps it is for the value of the "healthy" fat.  My olive oil had garlic in it so I did not add garlic powder.  The final mixture simmered for 30 minutes.  I never used a lid.  As you can see, this 4 quart pot almost wasn't big enough and it made a bit of  a mess 

I cooked pasta in a separate pot.  I was surprised at how filling this soup was - and how tasty.  I am not currently counting points or calories so I put two cups in my bowl with only this much pasta and almost couldn't finish it.  We had lots of soup left over so I put it in a jar to freeze and serve another day.