Borscht

I came upon this borscht recipe on the Learning Herbs website and was intrigued.  Neither my husband nor I had ever eaten borscht before, and the recipe just looked good, so I made it a few days later.  As usual, I changed things around a bit: substantially less pepper, no caraway because I dislike it, and more veggies.  I changed the method a smidge as well.  The results? Wow!  Definitely good!  I'm really glad we liked it because it made a huge amount, about 14 cups.  Healthy, delicious, and even rather pretty- what's not to like?  Next time I may even add the caraway!  I'm excited to make it again because we really liked it, it's quite healthy, and extremely flexible.  Got a ton of carrots?  Toss them in.  No celery?  No problem.  Nice!

 

 

Borscht

 

2 Tbsp butter

1 large onion, diced

1 large carrot, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced (had to leave this out but my broth had a ton of garlic)

about 8 mushrooms, diced

1 large potato, peeled and diced

1 small red cabbage, cored and chopped

3 beets, peeled and diced (this was one bunch)

8 C chicken broth (I used homemade)

8 oz can plain tomato sauce

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2 tsp salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp caraway seed

3 bay leaves

greens from the bunch of beets, rinsed and chopped

1-2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

 

garnish (optional):

sour cream

sliced green onions

fresh dill

quartered hard boiled eggs

 

Melt butter in large pot.  Add onion, carrot, and celery, and saute over medium until onions are tender.  Add garlic and saute another minute or so.  Add remaining vegetables except beet greens, then pour over broth.  Stir in tomato sauce, pepper, salt, optional caraway, and bay leaves.  Bring soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook until veggies are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.  Stir in beet greens and vinegar, then taste and add more salt or vinegar if desired.  Simmer 5 minutes longer.  Serve in bowls topped with optional garnishes.

 

Yield: About 3 quarts soup