by Jillian on March 16, 2011
Beets are a recent phenomenon. In my life. Not, you know, for the earth. Of course, I’ve known about their whimsical existence for some time, it just never occured to me to actually eat them. Since I have finally succombed to their jewel-toned intensity, it is obviously time to make borscht. Still working on the definitive-for-me recipe, this one is adapted from a few sources, including the original Moosewood Cookbook, and it’s good. I hope Lauren Weibrecht approves.
Vegetarian Borscht
Ingredients
- 3 beets, scrubbed, peeled, cut into matchsticks
- 1 yellow onions, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 16 new potatoes, diced
- 5 oz shredded green cabbage
- 15 oz diced canned tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 2 tablesoons butter
- 1 liter vegetable stock (I only had beef!)
- fresh dill
- sour cream
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
In a large stock pot, combine broth, beets, potatoes, and carrots, cook until tender. In another pot or sauce pan, saute onions and garlic in butter until translucent, add cabbage and cook until tender, then add to the soup pot. Season with salt, pepper, vinegar, honey, and tomatoes. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes, blend. Garnish with dill and sour cream.
Oh, borscht is one of my favorite things…Have you ever made it with golden beets? it’s just as lovely with a different color. I combine cookbook recipes for my borscht — Moosewood, Vegetarian Epicure, and Vegetable Love.
ever since my salad at Flatbread I adore golden beets!
Jillian, we are obviously on the same wavelength lately. I have been obsessed with beets recently, and I made a batch of borscht last week that made my kitchen look like a set from “Dexter,” but made me SO happy. Eschewing my shtetl roots (roots! no pun intended!), I decided to forego the sour cream, cabbage and potatoes and instead kept my version pretty light. I ate a small, chilled bowl every day with copious amounts of fresh lemon juice squeezed in. Maybe mine was more like a beet smoothie than actual borscht? (Sorry, ancestors.) Culturally insensitive, perhaps. But super fresh!
Missy, you rule.