[PhotoChick]

I made this last night (since the temp got down to 25 deg!).

1 lb stew meat
1/8 cup flour
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 med yellow onions, chopped
1 or 2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 lb carrots, chopped
4 large potatoes, chopped (I peel mine, but you can leave them unpeeled too, which adds more fiber)
4 stalks celery, chopped

10 cups of water

1 can diced tomatoes
2 11oz cans V8 juice
1 can corn
1 T Worcestershire sauce
sprinkle of red pepper flakes (optional)

salt
pepper

Cut the stew meat into about 1" cubes. Dredge in flour, salt, and pepper (I like to just throw everything into a Tupperware container and give it a good shake.

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high heat. Put the meat into the pot and keep stirring. When it's nice and brown, remove the meat (it won't be cooked through at this point) and set aside.

Lower the heat, add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until the onion is just barely translucent, stirring and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the carrots and celery and stir around for another 5 mins or so. Add the potatoes and the water. Add the meat back in. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer until the carrots are just tender.

Add the can of tomatoes (with juice), the can of corn (drained), the V8 juice, the Worcestershire, and the red pepper flakes. Simmer for another 30 mins or so with the lid off to let the flavors blend and the soup thicken a little. Salt and pepper to taste.

This makes 8 *large* servings (about 2 cups of soup each) and is very filling.

Nutrition Info (from caloriecount.about.com):
Calories - 367
Total Fat - 7.5g
Sodium - 330mg
Total Carbohydrates - 52.0g
Dietary Fiber - 8.3g
Sugars - 11.1g
Protein - 25.4g
Vitamin A 114% • Vitamin C 108%
Calcium 6% • Iron 23%

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