Beet Borsch(t)

This fall I was fortunate enough to travel to New England, I had a friend in Vermont and one in Massachusetts, I spent time with both. Strangely enough they both served me beet borsch made two very different ways. I loved them both and so far I have the recipe I like for one version and plan to work on the second one soon.

This soup feels like winter, deep red in color, hearty and good for a cold evening.
I made the omnivore version, it is easily adapted for the plant base diet*.
It begins with these humble ingredients.

Beet Borsch

2 cups peeled and diced beets ( 3-4 medium size beets)
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 pound beef stew meat cut into 1" pieces
1-2 large onions
3 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
6 cloves garlic, chopped.
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon  honey
1 teaspoon salt
ground pepper
8 cups water
sour cream for topping
*If you are making the vegetarian recipe add 1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon.

Most of the work for the soup comes in preparing the beets and cabbage.
The beets need to be peeled and cut into chunks while still raw.

The cabbage is shredded or chopped to the size you like for your soup.

1) Peel, chop and saute the onions to soften in a small amount of olive oil.
2) Add the beef to brown it.

3) Add the all veggies, spices, vinegar and water.
Note: as with most soup the exact about of each vegetable is flexible. While the original recipe called for 3 1/2 cups of canned tomatoes, I used maybe 2 cups of my frozen tomatoes.

4) Simmer for 1 hour.

5) Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a nice salad and a slice of rye bread !!

Here is my friend's cat sitting on the original recipe.