Chunky Bell Pepper Soup

Brown the ground beef in a large stock pot with a little salt. I like to do it in batches so that the bits of meat get a nice crust.

Remove the browned meat from the pot and set aside, leaving about a tablespoon of the rendered fat. Add sliced onions, red pepper flakes, carrots, celery, and bay leaf; saute until the veggies are tender. Add the minced garlic and stir in the flour and allow to cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and their liquid. (I add the tomatoes one at at time, breaking them up with my fingers as I go.) Add the beef broth/bouillon and granulated onion and bring to a boil. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot as you stir to get up all the tasty brown bits from the bottom.

Return the ground beef to the pot and add the rice and peppers. Let simmer for 30 minutes or so before serving, until the peppers are tender and the soup has thickened slightly. Add salt and black pepper to taste, and don’t forget to remove the bay leaf!

(For the peppers, I used a huge green bell pepper, a large red bell pepper, and a meduim Cubanella.)