I love the fall–the turning of leaves, fall fairs, the crisp air, and hearty one-pot meals. And this almost home-made beef vegetable soup really hit the spot. Preparation was a snap; I threw this dish together in less than 10 minutes. And, boy, was it good. The secret to this speedy soup is to use ready-to-eat beef. Normally I use Hormel Roast Beef au jus–it tastes great and can be used to speed up lots of dishes, but it wasn’t available so I chose this Jack Daniel’s fully cooked beef brisket instead.

Since it was sliced and not cut into chunks, I cut it into bite-sized pieces and threw it in the pot–sauce and all. The whiskey based sauce was slightly sweet and made a wonderful addition to the soup. Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this soup:

Ingredients:

1 16-oz package Jack Daniel’s Beef Brisket (or other ready-to-eat, fully cooked beef)
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes (or two 14-oz. cans)
2 14-oz. cans beef broth
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 large onion, peeled and diced
4 carrots, peeled and sliced into bite-sized pieces
2 cups of mini potatoes, unpeeled and cut in half
1 cup frozen peas (canned peas are too mushy)
1 can green beans, drained (fresh or frozen are better but I didn’t have any on hand)
1 can corn, drained (I used fresh corn on the cob)
Seasoning salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Now here’s the easy part. Throw all these ingredients into a large soup pot. Stir, cover, and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are tender–about an hour. While that’s cooking grab a magazine and a cup of tea and relax until dinner is ready. Nice! I served this soup with home-made buttermilk biscuits and topped them with unsalted butter and honey. Perfecto!