Sunday, May 4, 2014

Cold Beet Borscht Recipe- Dairy Free, Vegan Option, Refined Sugar Free Option


Beets are cheap now. And they're healthy. So I like to make beet dishes now when I can. This chilled beet borsht recipe is one I kind of made up myself, based on different recipes I read. Beet borscht is usually sweetened with sugar, and served with chopped cucumber, hard boiled eggs, baked potatoes, and a dollop of sour cream. I decided to leave out the sour cream, sweeten mine with honey instead of sugar, and put all the fixings directly into the borsht directly, because that's just how I swing.
If you're egg free, you can leave out the egg. If you're looking to make this cheaper, you can use sugar instead of honey (but use more sugar than the amount of honey listed, since honey is sweeter). If you eat dairy, feel free to add a dollop of sour cream to yours. And if you're nightshade free or on the GAPS diet, feel free to leave out the potato.

This soup has been a hit every time I made it- people have wanted seconds and thirds. Its perfect to serve now that the weather is getting warmer where I live, but beets are still being sold cheaply.

If you're going to play around with the amount of sweetener, lemon juice, etc... in here, note that the flavors meld more once you let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two, so first add a little bit, and then let it chill, and once cooled, see if you need to adjust it.

[ETA: This is embarrassing. I just realized I posted another very similar variation to this recipe just a year ago. I guess if a recipe was good enough to post twice, it's a worthwhile recipe to make, eh?]

Cold Beet Borscht Recipe- Dairy Free, Vegan Option, Refined Sugar Free Option

Ingredients:
2 large or 3 medium beets- about 2 cups of grated cooked beets
4 cups water
2/3 cup chopped fresh dill or 3 tablespoons dried dill
2 potatoes
2 medium cucumbers- 1 1/2 cups
1-2 eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions:
1. Boil the beets until completely soft.

2. Peel the beets.

3. Grate the beets and mix them with 4 cups water (not the water you boiled them in).

4. Chop up your cucumbers into small pieces.

5. Hard boil your eggs and boil your potatoes until soft but still firm.

6. Grate your eggs and potatoes into the mixture.

7. Add honey, dill, lemon, salt, and garlic powder. Mix well.

8. Chill.

9. Adjust seasonings if necessary.

10. Serve.

Enjoy!

Are you a fan of beets? Ever have or make beet borscht? What do you put in it?
Does this look like a recipe you'd try out? What is your favorite beet recipe?

1 comment:

  1. This looks good. LOVE the adaptability of the recipe!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment on your blog. Comments are moderated- please be patient to allow time for them to go through. Opposing opinions are permitted, discussion and disagreements are encouraged, but nasty comments for the sole purpose of being nasty without constructive criticisms will be deleted.
Just a note- I take my privacy seriously, and comments giving away my location or religion are automatically deleted too.