Vegetarian Borscht

After last week’s epic failure, I am so pleased to be writing about a soup that is seriously one of the best soups I have made since starting this blog.

For one, it is gorgeous. I have never wished that my stupid camera was working so much ever since it broke two months ago (I will get it fixed –or a new one– soon I promise). Not only is the finished product beautiful, but I was using carrots and beets from my CSA, and they were such great looking vegetables; I mean, the carrots looked nothing like carrots from the grocery store, they looked like carrots from a children’s book, all short and squashy and cute. Oh well I’m sure there will be more of that to come!

I’ll admit, I have always had a soft spot for borscht. In fact — all you lucky ducks getting to visit the Art Institute of Chicago’s new modern wing this summer, don’t forget to add Russian Tea Time, which is right across the street, to your itinerary. Their Ukranian borscht (and the selection of flavored vodkas) is not to be missed.

This recipe is incredibly easy, and remarkably good. And, it is made even easier, and more fun, for those with a food processor with one of those shredder attachments. If you have one of these and have never used it, now is the time to start, it is a blast. In addition, this soup can be eaten hot or cold, and is good either way — always a good feature of a summer recipe. And unlike my wintertime favorite Roasted Beet Soup, this borscht requires no oven roasting of vegetables at high temperatures for an hour, making it even more summer-friendly.

Alright, enough talking this up, lets get down to business:

Vegetarian Borscht
serves about 6

INGREDIENTS
1/2 large or 1 small yellow onion, sliced into half moons
2 cloves of garlic
1 pound beets, shredded with a food processor or peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 medium red potatoes, shredded with a food processor or cut into matchsticks
1/2 pound of carrots (about 2 large), shredded with a food processor or peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 T olive oil
1/2 head cabbage (red or white), sliced into small pieces
4 cups vegetable stock
juice of 1 and a half lemons
salt
coarsely ground black pepper
sour cream (use vegan sour cream for vegan soup)

PROCEDURE
1. Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil with a pinch of salt in a large soup pot for 1-2 minutes. Add beets, carrots, and potato, and another pinch of salt, and stir.
2. In the meantime, bring the vegetable stock to a boil. When the vegetables are soft (about 5 minutes), add the cabbage and the hot stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then add the lemon juice. Serve hot or cold with additional grated black pepper and a swirl of sour cream.