Add to: Recipe Box | Grocery List | Meal PlannerRecipe submitted by Jenny
Babas Best BorschtIngredients (use vegan versions): 5 to 6 beets depending how large (use best judgement, enough to make a large pot of H2O
red)
1/2 kg green beans (depending on how much you want to make)
4 to 8 potatoes
4 to 8 carrots
2/3 cup cooked beans (i.e. black beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans)
2 to 3 veggie stock cubes (depending on volume)
onions and celery - to fill the bottom of the pot
1/2 to 1 full head cabbage
1/2 can crushed tomatoes
Salt to taste
1 or 2 bay leafs
large bunch dill
oil to fry the onions and celery.
Directions:1) Cook the onions and celery in some unflavored oil of your choice on high heat. (Preferably in the largest pot that you own because this will make lots of soup. It gets better as left overs).
2) Add hot water until the pot is approximately 2/3 full.
3) Cut the stems off the green beans and add them to the pot along with the flavor cubes and the bay leafs.
4) Add the carrots, potatoes and beans (canned or cooked from dried). The carrots should probably be peeled but the potatoes need not be. Cut the potatoes and carrots into smallish sized chunks. Cook until the potatoes are tender. As to the volume of carrots and potatoes to add, to taste is good. This recipe is more like a list of ingredients, you could add things or vary the proportions. It doesn't really matter except that the general consensus is that there are things that wouldn't taste very good in borscht (like peppers or mushrooms but any of your favorite root veg. would work well).
5) Add beets until the soup stock looks very red. (beets should be peeled and cubed.) Cook until beets are tender.
6) Add the 1/2 can of crushed tomatoes.
7) Shred the cabbage and add to the pot. These should be in small bite sized flakes. Cook until cabbage seems almost done.
Add a bunch of dill (until your kitchen smells strongly like dill and you can taste it in the soup). Dill can be replaced with sorrel (herb). If you substitue sorrel with dill I think its traditional to leave out the beets.
9) Add salt to taste.
Now the soup is ready to eat. Eat with non-dariy sourcream or add a little unflavored soy milk to your soup bowl before eating. This is really cheap to make I guess partially because it makes so much. My Baba makes this for me when she comes to visit. Its really very good.
Serves: 1-10
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Almost the same recipe was brought by my grandparents from the Black Sea area. Howe'ver, they add a full head of shredded cabbage, half of which is fried, until golden, in some oil and half the potatoes are coarsely mashed and returned to the pot to slightly thicken the soup. We serve it with just a dash of horse radish. Delicious!
Archived comment by: joe
I've tried sending my own variant on borscht in a few weeks ago and it hasn't appeared yet, so with apologies I'm smuggling it in under yours. Its a total favourite with my family and friends. 3 carrots 1 or 2 raw beetroots 1 onion 1 potato olive oil 1 litre stock nutmeg black pepper salt Chop everything. Saute the onion and potato for 10 min, then add the carrots and beetroot and cook for another 20 min, covered. Add the stock and cook for another 10 min. Season to taste (its a very warming, nutritious soup and it tastes utterly fab). Variation: swirl in some vegan sour cream before serving, or add a packet of soft/silken tofu and blend.
Archived comment by: eve
got this cookin right now! it sounded so so good! i didn't have any cabbage or dill though, and i know those are kinda key in borschts (that's hard to say, haha). but nonetheless, it'll be great!
Archived comment by: queenwillow
i love you! after months of eating borshct in russia, ive been looking for a good recipe...
Archived comment by: verucaNato
This sounds delicious, but I'm looking for a recipe for the great Borscht I was eating in poland. Its called Borscht Solo, and is more of a thin, purple broth. It is so nice that I drank several pints a day and made my pee turn pink. I've not been able to get the recipe right... any ideas?
Archived comment by: carnivalofbunnies
