Easy Borscht Recipes: Beet and Ginger Soup

Is a delicious, very nutritious and inexpensive soup form Russian Ukrainian origins. There are 2 kinds of borscht; vegetarian and with meat.

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INGREDIENTS

• 5 cup beets, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion
• 1 big potato
• 5 cups lowsodium homemade chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 11/2 tbsp minced ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup chopped leeks
• 1 yellow pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1 Steam the beets and potatoes in a large pan with some salt and very little olive oil.

2 After 20 minutes, transfer to a big pan and add the onion, the chicken or vegetable broth, the leeks and the ginger.

3 Cook for 10 minutes more. Puree in the blender and adjust, if needed (add salt if needed, or add some extra water if too salty for your taste; add more water if too thick)

NUTRITION FACTS

Calories: 141.0Kcal
Total Fat: 3.8g
Cholesterol: 0.0mg
Sodium: 1,608.9mg
Potassium: 553.0mg
Carbs: 25.0g
Protein: 2.4g

VARIATION-1

VEGETARIAN BORSCHT

INGREDIENTS

• 3 liters water (cold)
• 2 kg beets, peeled and cut in two
• 1 carrot, peeled
• 1 whole onion
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp white vinegar (if not, cider vinegar)

INSTRUCTIONS

1 Add the vinegar to the cold water (to ensure that the color stays bright red). Add also the salt, the sugar, the beets, carrot and onion.

2 Bring to a boil and cook for 40 minutes over high heat. Remove from the fire and strain.

3 Use half of the cooked beets; blend in the machine with all the liquid. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

4 Drain and add the sugar. Cut half of the remaining beets in small thin strips and keep them to garnish the borscht.

5 The rest of the beets can be used for the beet salad (see salad recipes). Usually this soup is eaten cold, accompanied by a bowl of sour cream.

6 In my kitchen we prefer it to be at room temperature and instead of the sour cream, we use strained yogurt and serve with a loaf of dark multigrain bread.

VARIATION-2

BORSCHT WITH MEAT

INGREDIENTS (Borscht with meat)

• 2 lt water
• 2 kg beets, peeled and cut in halves
• 1 whole carrot, peeled
• 1 whole onion
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp brown sugar or its equivalent
• 6 tbsp white or apple vinegar

For The Meat Broth:

• 2 It water
• 1 kg lean beef shank
• 1 whole onion, unpeeled
• 1 small celeriac
• 1 fresh cob of com
• 1 celery stalk and its leaves
• 1 whole carrot
• 1/2 kg pumpkin
• 1/4 kg red cabbage cut in chunks
• 1 turnip
• 1 parsnip
• 1 sprig parsley
• 1 sprig dill
• Salt to taste
• A few black peppercorns

INSTRUCTIONS(Borscht with meat)

1 In a big saucepan or casserole, pour water and vinegar; stir well and then add the beets, the carrot and the onion.

2 Cook for 50 minutes or until the beets are soft. Drain and add the sugar.

3 Cut half of the beets in small thin strips and set aside; the rest of the beets can be used for the beet salad. Separately, make a meat broth:

4 Boil the meat for one hour. Skim off any foam. Strain the broth with cotton padded cheesecloth (this way any possible fat stays in the cotton).

5 Put the meat, the vegetables (the ones that need longer time to cook in the bottom of the pan) and the strained broth in another big pan.

6 Bring back to boil and cook for one more hour. Remove any fat from the surface. Taste and add more salt if needed.

7 Add the beet’s broth and the small pieces of cooked beet. Taste and adjust if needed. Serve hot.