Ground Beef Stoup with Nature's Earthly Choice Heritage Grain Blend

With the cold weather here in Michigan, soups, stews and stoups are very comforting.  And to comfort myself and my lovely wife, I made a stoup recently using Nature's Earthly Choice Heritage Grain Blend from Costco along with some Costco ground beef. Here is the recipe:

• 2-3 medium cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• EVOO
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels, slightly thawed
• 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1  14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes with chilies
• 2 cups water
• 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 cup Nature's Earthly Choice Heritage Grain Blend

Mix the spices and the Grain blend together and set aside.


Cook the onions and garlic in the EVOO until soft and then add the corn and cook for a minute or two.  Then add all the other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Simmer until the grain blend is fully cooked.(The directions on on the package for how long to cook the grain). Then serve and enjoy.


I know, pretty simple, isn't it? Here is a photo of the finished dish.

I will agree with those that might suggest this has a similar flavor and texture profile to chili, but adding the corn and the grain blend changes the flavors and textures enough that it is a significantly different dish.  On a scale of 1-10, my wife gave it a 9.  I would agree with that and I have to say that is pretty good for something that had only a few minutes of prep time and less than 30 minutes of cook time.

Also, it does have a variety of foods with the grains, beans and ground beef.  Objectively speaking, I think this dish was a solid success on all fronts and I am sure we will make it again over the winter.