In a large pot, add meat and water, turn on heat to medium high and cook, covered, for about 20 minutes. Meat takes longer to cook to tenderness than veg does, so you want to give it a head start.
When the meat has come to a boil for two or three minutes, you might like to skim the scum (just loose proteins and other particulate stuff from the meat rising to the surface). You don't have to, but it looks better.
Turn the heat down to medium low and add carrots and onions.
Then add tomatoes and salt, give it a few gentle stirs, cover, and simmer for another 15 minutes.
This is a good step to add your optional herbs and spices. (See last steps for suggestions.)
Add potatoes, cover, and simmer another 20 minutes or so.
If you want to add a maybe 3/4 cups of white rice or a cup of pasta for more starch and body, this would be a good time to add it. If you do, you'll probably also want to add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon more salt.
Looks super basic, but it's pretty tasty! I like to garnish with a little green onion and fresh herbs
OPTIONS:
For something Minestrone-ish, you could add another cup of tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon of Italian herbs, a can of beans, and a little pasta.
For Tortilla soup-ish flavor, you could add 2 teaspoons cumin, 1 Tablespoon oregano, 1 bay leaf, half a bell pepper chopped, some chopped cilantro, and a few good squeezes of fresh lime.
MORE OPTIONS:
If you like kale, you can just throw a bag of it in Step 2 of the process (kale takes a while to get tender). Add a package of Italian sausage either cut or pulled into bite sized pieces, a cup of cream, and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder in Step 3 and it'll remind you of Zuppa Toscana.
**Keep in mind all these optional suggestions will probably require an additional teaspoon or so of salt.
Enjoy! :)
