Oxtail and Okra Soup
During the winter, nothing beats a good, hearty soup. And one of my favorites is oxtail. This oxtail soup can easily be modified to your preferences by using whatever protein you prefer (chicken, turkey, beans, or tofu) and swapping the bone broth for a vegetable broth if you want it to be vegetarian. It’s full of rich flavors and tasty vegetables, and it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser during these wintery months.
Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp Oil
3 lbs Oxtail (or your choice of protein, to make it vegan, try beans and/or tofu)
6 cups Bone Broth (or vegetable broth)
1 Carrot, finely diced
2 stalks Celery, finely diced
2 medium Onions, finely diced
6-8 cloves Garlic, chopped
2 tbsp Tomato Paste
8 stalks Thyme
1-2 Bay Leaves
4-6 small to medium Potatoes, diced
A good handful of Chard, Kale, or other sturdy greens, sliced
Around 10 Okra, sliced
Directions:
Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a frying pan or skillet. Toss in the oxtail and brown it really well. Set aside. (If you’re making a vegetarian version, cook any dried beans as directed on the package, or just skip this step)
Remove all but a tablespoon of the fat from the pan and fry the onion, carrot, and celery until soft. You want to get them nice and soft, as this forms a sweet base for the soup. Add the garlic and fry for an additional minute or so.
Stir in tomato paste and increase the heat to medium-high before adding 1/3 cup broth. Stir to combine, making sure to scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
Combine this mixture with the oxtail and remaining ingredients in a crockpot.
Turn the crockpot on low and cook for 4-6 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone.
To serve, spoon a tail segment into a large soup bowl, surround it with the vegetables, and ladle broth over all.
Alternatively, remove the oxtail segments from the soup and shred the meat from the bone. Return the shredded meat to the soup and serve in large soup bowls.
*Oxtail is a fattier cut of meat, and you will often get some fat across the top of the broth that has rendered during cooking. To remove it, simply spoon it off. You can also refrigerate the soup overnight and pick the solidified fat off the top before reheating, but who wants to wait that long to eat this delicious soup!
