Vegetable Beef Noodle Soup

I love making a menu plan for the upcoming week, and find that the pros definitely outweigh the cons with this task. I make a grocery list and know each day what needs to be prepped, as well as being confident that I usually have everything I need for the recipe. The main con is not knowing in advance what you might feel like on a specific night, or whether your dish is going to match other circumstances. In particular, it was a beautiful sunny day today, not necessarily a day I would be looking at having a hot bowl of hearty soup. But still, the soup was fantastic, and regardless of the weather outside was thoroughly enjoyed. Because this soup has noodles, if you are going to reheat it you may need to add some more water. Also, I found after the soup had simmered for 2 hours it had lost quite a bit of liquid. I ended up adding 2 cups of water at the end, and it really didn't lose any of the flavour. 

Vegetable Beef Noodle Soup

- 450 g stewing beef cubes

- 1/2 tsp pepper

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 tbsp vegetable oil

- 3 carrots, chopped

- 2 ribs celery, chopped

- 1 onion, chopped

- 3 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 pkg (1 L) low-sodium or homemade beef broth

- 2 tbsp tomato paste

- 1 tsp herbes de Provence

- 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

- 1 cup large curly egg noodles

- 1/2 cup frozen peas

- 3 cups baby spinach

Sprinkle beef with pepper and salt. In Dutch oven heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook beef, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 6 minutes. Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, another 6 minutes. 

Stir in broth, 3 cups of water, tomato paste, herbes de Provence and vinegar. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, partially cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 2 hours. Stir maybe every 20-30 minutes. 

Stir in noodles and peas; cook over medium heat until noodles are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach.