My biweekly CSA box bears all sorts of root vegetables in these colder months. What to do with all the beets and carrots and celery, oh my! Make borscht! The Ukrainian in me is so proud! What I love about this is I don’t have to have every ingredient, or even the right proportions of ingredients. The only key element to this is the lemon juice (or pickle juice if you prefer) and letting it sit in the fridge overnight for the vegetables to soak up the flavor.

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B O R S C H T

•3 quarts beef or chicken broth
•1/4 tsp butter
•2 garlic cloves, minced
•white wine
•1-2 turnips, or rutabagas, or parsnips, thinly sliced
•1 teaspoon dried marjoram
•2-4 celery stalks, trimmed, thinly sliced
•2-4 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
•1/2 head shredded cabbage (I often don’t have cabbage in the house, so I just up the other ingredients)
•1 bay leaf
•salt and pepper to taste
•4 beets, peeled (optional: grated)
•beet stalks, diced
•1-2 onions, diced
•4 tbsp lemon juice
•sour cream

I don’t usually have these items in stock, but you could also include:

•no beets at all (blasphemy!)
•1/4 cup dill, minced
•1 leek, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
•whole allspice berries
•potatoes
•bacon
•meat
•2 Tbsp tomato paste
•6 Tbsp honey
•pickle juice
•cooked white beans

Scrub beets, cut off tops an inch from the base. I steam them in a double boiler and peel off the skin with gloves when they’ve cooled (boy do they stain your hands). Alternatively you can bake them in foil or boil them and then peel off the skin.

Bring broth to a simmer while you prepare the vegetables. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat with the butter. Add garlic. Cook for 1 minute and stir in the marjoram.

Add the celery, turnips, carrot, and cabbage, onions, and beet stalks. I add a generous splash of wine to minimize the use of butter. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are slightly tender, about 8 minutes.

Add the vegetables and bay leaf to broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer partially covered for 10 minutes before grating the beets directly into the soup – or you can chop them and add them. Simmer, partially covered, until the soup is flavorful and the vegetables are completely tender, about 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice.

Cover and chill in fridge for a few hours or overnight. Reheat before serving, but not to boiling or the color will disappear. Serve with sour cream.

Warning, your poop will be red the next day!