I've been on a mission lately to use up the odds and ends of things in my freezer. It's made for some interesting meals, some more successful than others ;)

This improvised soup was definitely one of the great ones! I started with a good sized piece of sirloin steak to use up and added some frozen peas with fresh carrots and potatoes. Other vegetables such as spinach, mushrooms, corn and green beans would be great in this soup, as well.

One of the tricks to getting great flavour in this soup is to be sure to let the meat brown. Often when browning meat, the pot will end up with a lot of liquid in it from the meat. You really need to just be patient and keep cooking until all the liquid is gone and you can get that great browning on the meat and the bottom of the pan. This step will make all the difference in the flavour in your finished soup.

Be sure to taste and season your soup with salt and pepper if needed (a lot depends on the saltiness of your chicken broth), adding a bit more of any of the other seasonings as needed. I thickened my soup at the end with a bit of cornstarch mixed with water since that's the way my family seems to prefer it, but feel free to leave it thinner if you like.