sweet Country Beef Soup

Makes 6 servings


On the way home from work, pick up a loaf of freshly baked French bread from your bakery. 

Crisp and warm it in the oven. Break offchunks of bread (European style) and slather them with unsalted butter. Serve alongside steaming bowls of soup for a rustic country dinner.

Ingredients

■  3 cups canned Italian-style stewed tomatoes, chopped, juice reserved

■ 1½ cups sliced celery

■ 1½ cups sliced mushrooms

■ 1½ cups sliced carrots

■ 1 cup chopped onion

■ 1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn

■  1 pound potatoes, washed, peeled, and cubed

■ 1 pound diced cooked beef

■  6 packets instant beef broth/seasoning mix

■ 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

■  1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients plus 6 cups  water and the reserved tomato juice in the  slow cooker. Cover with the lid and cook  on low all day.

—excerpted from Frozen Assets Lite 

and Easy: Cook for a Day and Eat 

for a Monthby Deborah Taylor-Hough