Unstuffed Pepper Soup!

 

I love stuffed peppers, but when I make them, I end up eating them by myself most of the time.  Nobody in my household is crazy about the green pepper, but if you somewhat disguise the green pepper in soups and stews and such, they have eaten quite a few of them actually.  Onions have to have the same disguise. 

 This soup is like taking a stuffed green pepper and  a cabbage roll, something else I like, but rarely make for obvious reasons, and deconstructing them and then rearranging them into a more palatable soup for some folks (husbands, kids).  

Did you notice my use of the word 'deconstructed'...lol?   To think they say television is not educational.  I learned that one on the Food Network.  I take it to be a fancy schmancy way to say, taking the ingredients in a recipe apart and putting them back together in a different 'less constructed' way. 

 Heck, we have been doing that in the south for years now.  Sometimes, just because we don't have time for all of that 'constructing' and sometimes for the same reason I am doing it here...the art of disguise. 

I love this soup for several reasons, it's economical, fairly fast to make, very healthy and delicious. Here is what you need for this:

1lb. to 1 1/2 lb. ground chuck

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced  (can use 2 green if that is what you have)

1 medium size sweet onion, diced

1 cup celery, sliced thin

1 Tbs. minced garlic

1/2 head of green cabbage, chopped

1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups V-8 juice

6 cups water

2 Tbs. beef bouillon granules or 4 beef bouillon cubes

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning (I use Tony Chachere's)

1/2 tsp. celery salt

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

dash of Tabasco sauce (optional)

1 cup rice, uncooked

 

Brown ground chuck with onion and garlic until it is no longer pink.  Drain any excess grease. Add the celery and green and red pepper and sauté lightly.  Add all of the other ingredients except the rice.  Bring to a boil and boil for about 2 minutes, stirring ingredients to mix well.  Turn down to simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.  Add the rice and simmer for another 30 minutes.  If the rice is tender, it is ready to serve.  Taste for salt and pepper, you may need to add just a little, but probably not.