I’d had a hankerin’ for soup going on for a while.

Boy howdy was I a giggly bowl of glee (on the inside) when time permitted some kitchen fun. I was asked for the recipe so here ya go. This recipe was started the previous night in the crockpot. By next day afternoon it was ready to eat.

Ingredients: Beef steak 4 ounces cut into 1 inch cubes, an assortment of vegetables (cooks choice, I used fresh carrots,celery, zucchini, red peppers, yellow peppers, sweet onion, garlic), 2 quarts broth(vegetable or chicken), chick peas l,entils, farro, bay leaves, herbs(dill & tarrogon, salt & pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar.

Turn on Crockpot to high. Add 2 quarts broth. Cover  the crockpot with lid. Prep skillet by heating on high.  Cut beef into chunks no larger than one inch. Sprinkle beef chunks with balsamic vinegar. This step can be done a day in advance although it was an after thought for me so the beef marinated in the balsamic for roughly 30 minutes. Slice and dice celery and onion into smallish pieces. In a very hot skillet add a tablespoon of olive oil to skillet before adding beef. Allow beef to sear turning the cubes for browning on all sides. Add celery, onion and garlic to the skillet and cover to sweat vegetables.

While Vegetables and beef cook, measure out 1 cup farro and one cup dry bean & assorted lentils mix.

Deglaze skillet by adding a half cup of broth to skillet. Scraped beef, vegetables and deglazing from skillet into crockpot. Add 1 cup of farro and 1 cup of dry bean & assorted lentils mix. Turn Crockpot dial from high to low.  Allow crockpot to cook on low setting approximately 8 hours or overnight.  Once the dry beans and lentils are tender the fresh vegetables can be added. Allow to cook till everything in the crockpot is tender. This dish makes a hearty meal feeding a bunch of hungry tummies.   Makes a great meal by itself or pair it with a salad or cornbread or homemade buttermilk biscuits!

This dish can be made vegetarian, just leave out the meat.

Bon Appetite!