Hamburger Soup

When I was a little girl, my mama would sometimes make what she called "Hamburger Soup." She did this when she was "too tired to cook" since my daddy didn't consider soup a real meal. Even so, it was one of my favorite suppers. In a big soup pot, she tossed leftover ground beef, onions, okra, corn, peas, potatoes, and tomatoes. Or whatever vegetables we had, but those were the common ones. To go along side it, she always made a large pan of corn bread and a gallon jug of sweet tea. With the table set, usually by me, the whole family would gather in the tiny kitchen around the rickety dinette set, "say the blessing," and then dig in. The soup was a steaming bowl of goodness. The warm cornbread, a slice of mama's love. And the sweet tea, a nightly staple as routine as the setting sun.

Inspired by this memory and the promise of cooler fall temperatures, I made a big pot of "Hamburger Soup" last night. I went heavy on the ground beef and chose all low starch vegetables: onion, bell pepper, tomato, okra, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. The result was a complete, satisfying paleo meal in a bowl (with lots of leftovers). As for the cornbread and sweet tea, the memory of those two will have to suffice.