Vegetable Beef Soup

Have I mentioned how therapeutic cooking is for me?  It's been a really rough week and creating a big pot of soup, simmering on the stove, just seems like the perfect solution.

1# very lean beef stew meat

1/2 large onion - chopped

1-2T butter

1/2T extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

2 very large carrots - chopped

2 stalks celery - chopped

another 1/2 onion - rough chopped

2 large potatoes scrubbed and chopped

1 can fire roasted tomatoes and juice
1 can water
Optional:  1 can drained, rinsed kidney beans
1 can water
1 pkg. Beefy Onion dry soup

Brown the first 5 ingredients together very well.  Add a little water from time to time then let it evaporate to intensify the browning process.  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer, covered, on low at least an hour until it becomes soup! . . . Lin