Borscht

Once again, I've never been to Russia, but I've wanted to try borscht. My, there sure are a lot of different recipes floating around! I had a hard time limiting myself to one style of soup, so here is my take on borscht.

4 beets, peeled and diced
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/4 head cabbage, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can tomatoes
1 qt beef broth
water (I used 2 tomato cans worth)
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large stock pot, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook 2-3 hours or until all the vegetables are soft. Remove from heat and puree with a stick blender. If you need to do this in a blender, do so in small batches and very carefully. Return to heat.

To serve, make sure it is piping hot and top with a dollap of sour cream. Serve with a good bread.

This was VERY good, in my opinion. My husband wasn't sure of the beet taste at first, but as long as the soup was hot, it grew on him. It was a very purple-red, smooth vegetable soup. I would have kept the soup with chunks in it except everything was the same color purple and it didn't look appetizing as it was.

I used frozen carrots because that was what I had, and the cabbage was a last minute inclusion as it was looking sad in the bottom of the crisper. I could probably include nearly any root vegetable.

This made, conservatively, 15 cups of soup. We ate, including the kids, plenty. I divided the rest into 2 containers and froze one. This recipe could easily be increased with more vegetables and liquid, but I only have an 8qt pot, so I couldn't do much more unless I used my canner.

I was concerned I didn't have a side salad or vegetable initially, until I thought about what we were eating! Silly mom!