Vegetarian borscht Beet soup - warm reminders of home

Borscht Soup.jpg

Oh, the beauty of the green veggies: dino kale, curly kale, chard, bok choy. All these green leaves are quite new to me! I come from the Eastern Europe and these leafy veggies were not introduced to me earlier. While cooking with kale was a bit intimidating and I am still learning, I jumped with joy seeing red beets arriving at the farm online store.

A very red, robust beet, looking exactly as it was coming from faraway Europe. Red bulbs triggered sweet memories of the wonderful taste of borscht that I grew up with when I was in Poland. I thought this is a moment to add to this blog and share with all of you, a taste of my childhood. The soup turned out fabulous! Little bit of fresh dill and a spoon of sour cream acted like a cherry on a cake. 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup diced onions

  • 1 cup of chopped cabbage (fresh or sauerkraut) 

  • 1 cup of diced celery root  (optional)

  • 2 cloves of garlic, grated or pressed

  • 1 tbsp of olive oil (to saute onions and celery)

  • 8 cups water 

  • 1 or 2 medium carrots, grated

  • 2 or 3 medium to large sized peeled and diced  beets with leaves

  • 1 cup  white Lima beans 

  • 1 medium potato, diced

  • 1/2 cup of fresh dill weed

  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Soak Lima beans for 2 hours. On a wide pot saute the onions, carrot and celery (optional)  with the oil until soft and translucent. If you use a fresh cabbage add it to the pot now and saute with onions and carrot. Add water or broth.

  • Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce to medium heat and let simmer.

  • Peel  and dice the beets, potato. Add the beets, potato, and (previously soaked) Lima beans , and garlic to the pot. If you use sauerkraut add it now.

  • Allow soup to simmer on medium until diced beets and potatoes are soft for about 15 minutes. Remove soup from heat.

  • Serve hot with a splash of sour cream/yogurt , a bit of a chopped fresh dill., and a slice of bread and butter (rye bread is best!)

See more here

https://ifoodreal.com/ukrainian-borscht/

- Contributed by Marzena, San Jose

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Chard Dal - my farm fresh produce version of an Indian classic

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Cooking kale and beet greens - recipes from Sri Lanka and India