Golden Borscht
Who has two thumbs and just got a Vitamix??!? Yeah, that’s right, THIS GIRL!
Many, many years ago, I started collecting all the things I wanted for my dream kitchen. Appliances are expensive, so it took me a while to get all the things I wanted, but finally, FINALLY this summer I bought the last thing on my wish list: a Vitamix.
I now have the blender of my dreams to go with the stand mixer, toaster over/airfryer, coffee maker and Instapot of my dreams! The family is complete.
To be real, I’ve mostly just used it for smoothies, but I have lots of ideas of things I want to make with it, and soup is one. Especially now that soup weather has arrived.
If you’re making a pureed soup, the Vitamix is pretty amazing. The texture ends up being so smooth and velvety. Why is this important? Well, if you’re doing vegan recipes that don’t involve any cream or butter, texture is important, and in many ways, the Vitamix’s ability to make things so smooth and creamy replaces those ingredients.
Today’s recipe is a borscht made from golden beets instead of red ones. Borscht is a very traditional soup from eastern Europe, and it’s very hearty and filling. Most of the time, it’s served chunky, but in this case, I decided to try it, not only with a different type of beet, but also to puree it, and it turned out great!
There are a variety of ways to garnish your borsht. Traditionally, you’d garnish with a dollop of sour cream (here I’ve used Earth’s Own Organics vegan sour cream), but one of the other things I love about borscht is that is uses the entire plant, not just the root vegetable. Often, you’ll see recipes incorporate the beet tops into the soup, or you can make a pesto out of them to garnish your soup with.
Happy soup season, everyone!!
Golden Borscht
Ingredients
- 3 med-large golden beets
- 1 small-med onion Peeled and chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic peeled, smashed and roughly chopped
- 1 litre vegetarian soup stock
For garnish
- vegan sour cream
- chopped fresh herbs like dill or chives
- pesto
Instructions
- Wash the beets well and top and tail them, then peel them and cut into 2" chunks.
- In a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat, place the olive oil.
- Top and tail the onion and peel it. Chop into 1/2" pieces (because everything is going to be pureed, you don't have to be too precise with your chopping).
- Sautee the onion in the warm oil for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the garlic and stir until it becomes fragrant.
- Add the beets and stir well to combine, making sure the beets are all covered in oil. Allow to cook for about another 5 minutes or so.
- Pour over enough soup stock to cover the vegetables (you may need less than an entire litre at this point, but you may need to add more later).
- Loosely cover and allow to to boil for about 15-20 minutes, until the beets are fork-tender.
- Remove from heat and and place to the side to allow to cool slightly (it's not smart to puree really hot liquids).
- Once cool enough to handle, dump the whole thing into your blender and puree it. At this point, taste to adjust for seasoning (depending on what kind of stock you are using, you may not need any salt at all, or you might need lots), and add additional stock if the soup is too thick.
- Return to the stovetop to reheat.
- Ladle into bowls and garnish with your choice of toppings.