Creamy Beet Borscht Recipes

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.

CREAMY BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• In a large saucepan or soup pot, heat the oil or butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and vinegar and cook until most of the vinegar evaporates, about 3 minutes. Add the chopped vegetables, bay leaves, stock or water and half of the lemon juice. Bring to a boil, immediately reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 40 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender. Add more stock or water as desired. Once the vegetables are cooked, remove the soup from the stove, stir in the remaining lemon juice, and let cool for 5 minutes.
• While the soup is cooking, combine the sour cream with most the chopped dill, reserving a little dill for garnish, and set aside.
• Once the soup has cooled down a bit, purée with an immersion blender or in batches in a food processor or countertop blender until smooth. Return the soup to the stove and gently heat over low heat. Season with salt and black pepper and serve warm or chilled in bowls with a dollop of the sour cream and dill mixture. Garnish the bowls with the remaining chopped dill.

CREAMY BEET SOUP WITHOUT ALL THE CREAM

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté 3 minutes or until tender.
• Add broth and next 6 ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered 20 minutes or until the beets and potato are tender. Be sure to discard bay leaf at this point.
• Puree mixture using an immersion blender. You may also use a blender or food processor, being sure to process in 3 batches. The blender will probably give the smoothest results, but I thought the immersion blender gave satisfactory results (plus was easy to use). Return pureed mixture to the pot if necessary. Warm soup over low heat 5 minutes. Remove and stir in lemon juice.
• Remove 1/2 cup of the soup and transfer this into a small bowl. Combine it with the sour cream, stirring with a whisk.
• Ladle the soup into individual bowls and top each serving with one tablespoon of the sour cream mixture. Using the tip of a knife, swirl the sour cream, making a pretty design.
• This recipe makes 8 servings (3/4 cup each) at 74 calories.