Beet Soup

It occurs to me that I promised and then forgot to post a recipe for this. Lucky for you, or perhaps not, I made a batch and...took pictures!

Acquire some beets. I use 3-6 depending on their size. It is best if the greens are still attached. It can be tough to find the greens, but hang in there until you can. They're great in the soup. Cut off the greens and the long parts of the roots, cover with water in a kettle, and simmer until tender. What the heck does "tender' mean? Well, that's up to you. I like them a little al dente. Others like them like mashing potatoes.

So cook them until you call them tender.



Drain and cool the beets slightly. Then peel them. The peels shouldn't be too difficult to slip off at this point, although, sometimes, the crinkles in the beets (from being a root vegetable) will make you take a knife to the peel. Slice the beets in half lengthwise (or width-wise, if you don't take direction well) lay it on the slice, and cut the beets into medium slices.

They'll look kind of like this. (For reference, this is a one and a half quart bowl)



For 3-6 beets, you'll now need a quart of broth. This can be beef broth, chicken broth, vegetable broth, lamb broth...You get the idea. Any broth. I use beef. Sometimes chicken. This was beef.



I made it myself. I do that; boil up quarts and quarts of broth from old egg-laying chickens, or the soup bones that come with a side of beef. Then I can it. Start the broth boiling softly, and add the beets.





This is where the greens come in, the ones I mentioned back at the beginning. Chop them coarsely; they should be in about half inch pieces, and I don't use the stems. That started a little controversy with Grandma, but I don't.



Now, warm the beets. This is not about making beet mush; just get them warmed through. Then add the greens. Cook just a little; under 5 minutes. Again, I like the greens a little al dente; in any case, they taste fresher the less they're cooked.

Ladle the soup into a bowl, and add a dollop of sour cream.



Yum.

Double yum with fresh, warm bread and unsalted butter.

Triple yum if the bread is Lithuanian rye.