Caldo, Caldo, Caldo

I got this recipe from a Spanish book Mindy brought home from school a while back. It's called Caldo, Caldo, Caldo and they made it sound so good, I had to make this the next day. Since it's pretty much the best soup I've ever made, I really wanted to put the recipe on here so I wouldn't lose it. This is such a perfect way to get your vegetables in on a cold winter's day!

Caldo

Broth

1-2 soup bones (I never found these so I haven't tried it with them, but I'm sure they make it so much more delicious!)

1-2 lbs lean stew meat

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tps cumin

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 ribs of celery

Fill large pot with 4 quarts of water and set on medium heat. Add bones and meat, bring to boil.

Skim off the brown foam.

Add seasonings, onion, garlic & celery and simmer for 2 hours until beef is tender. Add more water as needed.

Add vegetables: (use your favorite vegetables, here are some suggestions, the ones I used are in bold)

2 large carrots

1 turnip

3 large potatoes

1/2 green bell pepper

1 zucchini or squash

1/2 small green cabbage

2 ears corn cut into 4 pieces each (I just dumped some frozen corn in the second time I made this and liked that better, but I might have used old corn the first time)

1 medium tomato

3 sprigs cilantro

Continue to cook soup 30-40 minutes until vegetables are tender. If needed, add more water, salt and seasonings to taste. (I ended up adding a bunch more salt and pepper)

Serve with hot tortillas with a bowlful of flavorful rice on the side and a thin slice of lime.

I really like it just with bread and butter, but that's how I grew up eating soup. You know, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. Or something like that. :)

Enjoy.