Ask a Master Gardener: Use the last of the fall harvest in soup recipe

As I am writing this, I see it is supposed to be in the mid-70s this week. That's pretty warm for the middle of November. I am not complaining; I'll take it over the frigid weather I know is coming.

I always end up with a bunch of fall crops all at once, so we are always looking for recipes to cook as many as possible. While looking for a fall crop recipe, I ran across one that uses quite a few fall vegetables and has venison in it. Now that is perfect timing because I just happen to have some venison, too. Of course, I had to do a little adjusting. It will really hit the spot when the weather turns cold.

Venison vegetable soup:

1 pounds ground venison

1 onion, chopped

1 large parsnip, sliced

3 medium potatoes, cubed

3 carrots, sliced

1 small rutabagas, peeled and cubed

1 (16 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes

3 cubes beef bouillon

6 cups water

1/2 medium head cabbage, coarsely chopped

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Brown venison and onions in a large pot over medium heat. Mix in onion, parsnip, potatoes, carrots, rutabagas, tomatoes, bouillon, water, cabbage, bay leaf, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 1-2 hours.

That should use up quite a bit of those vegetables hanging around the edge of the garden. You might even have some left over for Thanksgiving dinner. If not, you might want to consider enlarging the garden.

Happy gardening!

Peter Sutter is a life long gardening enthusiast and a participant in the MU Extension's Callaway County Master Gardener program. Gardening questions can be sent to [email protected].