May 23, 2010
Cold Beetroot Soup
At some point, I was afraid that with this ongoing Icelandic volcano eruption we wouldn’t have summer at all, but it seems like there’s still not enough ash above Europe to deprive us of summer. This week has been really warm and we’ve been enjoying cold beverages, refreshing salads, frozen desserts, and cold soups. I still haven’t bought an ice-cream machine, but I’m determined to do so by mid-June. Then I’d probably need a book with ice-cream recipes – any suggestions are very welcome as I have just enough time to order one from Amazon (again, unless the volcanic ash doesn’t come between). Oh and speaking of the volcano eruption, when I first heard about that air service collapse that had happened due to the ash cloud spread, my first thought was: how will my boyfriend get here from London?? and my second was: oh my God if this continues for more than a week, how are they going to transport fruit and vegetables from overseas? Do you think I can now be considered a true foodie? :)
Anyway, this cold beetroot soup is quite a typical Eastern European soup; different variations of this soup exist in Polish, Russian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian cuisine. It’s healthy (as anything with beetroots is), attractive (as anything of pink colour is), and refreshing (as any cold soup is). You also have slices of fresh, crunchy cucumbers and radishes in it, and a pinch of spring onions, and little cubes of hardboiled egg. There’s a hint of sweetness and a hint of sourness in it, a bit of crunch and a bit of tenderness. There’s the vitality of fresh herbs, which you are free to experiment with. And of course there’s plenty of freshness in each bowl of cold beetroot soup.
Ingredients
250g canned shredded beetroots
500ml water
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
8 radishes
2 short cucumbers
2 medium-sized potatoes, boiled
A bunch of fresh dills, lemon balm leaves, and spring onions
2 hardboiled eggs
4 tbsp thick sour cream
Salt to taste
Serves 4
Place canned beetroots into a saucepan with 500ml water, bring to a boil, season with salt and lemon juice. Remove from heat and leave to cool. Chill in the refrigerator.
Cut boiled potatoes and eggs into small squares; slice radishes and cucumbers; chop dill leaves and spring onions finely.
Ladle out the chilled beetroot soup and add a tablespoon of sour cream into each bowl. Alternatively, add sour cream to the soup before you ladle it, and stir until well-blended. Divide the vegetables and eggs in 4 parts and add them into each serving bowl.
Serve with sprigs of lemon balm.
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Zamechatelnii rezept, I’m gonna try it.
Spasibo bolshoe, please let me know if you try this! ;-)
Hi, good to hear you enjoyed some fine weather. Until you get an icecream maker, have you had frozen banana icecream? We had some on Saturday, it’s brilliant. Just freeze some banana cut into pieces and then mix it with a bit of honey. Seriously, it’s good! I added some flaked toasted almonds and I imagine that chocolate chips would be great too.
Nathalie, your frozen banana dessert sounds delish and very easy to make!! I’ll try this with chocolate chips! Thank you!
Let me know what you think - it’s true that it’s as easy as it gets.
I have always wanted to try beetroot soup and now is the perfect time! I have got a good recipe!
by the way, you can find most of the middle eastern ingredients online through amazon or other online purveyors.
It impressed me. If you can do a youtube video for it. That would be nicer. :)
I’ve tried all kind of refreshing soups but the KOK beet soup is the best! Just awesome
Borsht is truly my favorite soup, and I make it often, but usually in the hot, rather than the chilled, version. I so love what you have done here. It just shouts summer, refreshment, and all around deliciousness.