Stuffed Pepper Soup

True Confession Time: When I first heard of this soup my initial reaction was... eew, hamburger in soup??? Well, foolish me! I have since learned better and use hamburger in a couple different soups now, and as with most things there are many recipes and variations for Stuffed Pepper Soup out there. I decided to just use what I had on hand and ended up with a very tasty lunch that freezes well!

Stuffed Pepper Soup
3/4lb ground beef
1 C onion, diced
1 large stalk celery, sliced
2 small cloves garlic, minced
1 very large, or 1 1/2 large green bell peppers, 1/2" dice
14.5oz can of diced tomatoes, with juice
2 1/2 C liquid, any combo of chicken stock/bullion/water
1 heaping Tblsp tomato paste
a few shakes of celery seed
a few shakes Italian Seasoning
Chicken Better Than Bullion-if needed to bump up the flavor, I used 1 tsp
S&P to taste-I have Mushroom Salt so I used it
Rice, cooked-I used brown rice

1. Brown the ground beef and pour off any fat.
2. Add onion and celery, cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add garlic and peppers, cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add everything except the rice, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the peppers are done to your liking.
5. When ready to serve, add a big spoonful of rice on top of your soup and enjoy!

Notes:

• I used 1 C chicken stock the rest water, all stock would be best, all water with added bullion is fine.
• I chose to add the rice separately because I won't be eating this all at one sitting and rice doesn't freeze very well (for me). If you will be eating it all you could cook the rice in the soup, it would help thicken the broth, I think that would be good! Add more water for the rice.
• Someone suggested adding Rotel... I like that idea!
• I'm very pleased with this nice easy soup and see myself making it often.

Eat well and have a happy day:@)

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