Beets With Greens Borscht Recipes

BEET AND BEET GREEN BORSCHT

Steps:

• Starting with cold water bring beets and potatoes to boil.
• Reduce heat to simmer and cook until firm, but cooked through, ~20 minutes.
• Add carrots, onion, garlic and cook 10 minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients and cook 10 more minutes or until greens have wilted.
• Taste for salt, and add if needed, add lemon juice, stir.
• Pour in bowls and garnish with yogurt and dill.

BEET GREEN BORSCHT

Steps:

• In a large frying pan, melt 1/4 cup of margarine or butter.
• Add chopped onions and saute' for 5 minutes but do not brown.
• Add mashed tomatoes including liquid and simmer until reduced to about half (about 20 minutes) then set aside.
• In a large cooking pot, add 16 cups of water and bring to boil.
• Add salt, potato quarters, chopped carrots and the beet and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
• When potatoes are tender, remove into a bowl and mash.
• Add the remainder 1/4 cup of margarine or butter, half and half cream to the mashed potatoes and mix well, then set aside.
• Trim tail ends of the young beets, and scrub only, then cut into small pieces and add to soup pot.
• Chop beet greens into medium size pieces and add to soup pot.
• Add cubed potatoes, spinach greens, green and red peppers, green beans, chopped celery, cauliflower florets and cook until vegetables are just tender, about 20 minutes.
• Add mashed potato mixture, tomato/onion mixture, green onions, fresh dill weed and bring to boil.
• Remove from heat.
• Add lemon juice and stir well.
• Adjust spices to taste.
• Cover and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
• Refrigerate any unused portion of soup.

BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• In a saucepan, bring the beets, carrots, onion, water and salt to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add broth, cabbage and butter; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Just before serving, stir in lemon juice. If desired, top each serving with sour cream and chives or dill.

MUSHROOM AND BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• Place dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour on 3 cups boiling water. Let sit 30 minutes, then strain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl. Squeeze mushrooms over the strainer to extract any remaining flavorful liquid. Rinse mushrooms in several changes of water, and chop.
• While mushrooms are soaking, combine beets, sliced garlic and 1 quart of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and the sugar, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
• Remove beets from water using a slotted spoon or skimmer and transfer to a bowl; allow to cool until you can handle them. Cut into small dice or into julienne (about 1/4-inch wide by 1 inch long). Add enough of the broth from the beets to the mushroom broth to make 6 cups combined broth.
• Heat oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven and add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring, until just tender, about 5 minutes, and add a generous pinch of salt and the minced garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute, and add white mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, until mushrooms begin to sweat. Add chopped dried mushrooms, the 6 cups combined mushroom and beet broth, the simmered beets and the bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, add salt to taste, reduce heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes.
• Add chopped beet greens and simmer another 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Taste and adjust seasonings. Remove bouquet garni, stir in chopped parsley and serve, garnishing each bowl with a generous dollop of yogurt if desired.

"BASIC" BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• Cut off beet greens from the beets but leave about an inch or two of the tops on the beets.
• **Option:mince removed beet tops to add later.
• Scrub the beets well.
• In a large pot, add beets and cover with cold water (about 3/4 full).
• Bring the water to a boil and boil this for about 15-25 minutes until the beets are cooked.
• Remove the beets from the water; save the water from the beets ("beetjuice").
• Remove the skins from the beets.
• Strain the"beet juice" (through a cheese cloth lined sieve) into a pot.
• Peel and grate the onion.
• Grate the beets (can use food processor for grating onion and beets).
• Put the grated onion and beets into the pot with the strained beet juice.
• **Option:you can add the finely chopped/minced beet tops, if you want to use them.
• Bring all to a quick boil.
• Add the salt, lemon juice, pepper (optional), and honey (optional), simmer until the honey has dissolved and all is well heated.
• Serve, garnished with a dollop of sour cream (optional).

BEETS-WITH-GREENS BORSCHT

Steps:

• In a soup pot, combine beets (not greens), bones, cabbage, tomatoes, onion, 8 cups water, bay leaf and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 1 1/2 hours.
• Meanwhile, put potatoes in a medium saucepan of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer potatoes to a cutting board. Add chopped greens to boiling water and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. Peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice.
• Discard bay leaf. Remove bones, remove meat from bones, chop meat and return meat to soup. Taste and add salt if needed. Ladle soup into bowls and season with white pepper. Top with potatoes and greens, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.