Warming Winter Soups

Cabbage Borscht Soup

There is nothing as heart-warming as an excellent hot Cabbage Borscht. For those of you who haven’t experienced this hearty, one-pot dish on a cold day, you should try this Eastern European recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cabbage, medium
• 3 potatoes, white or yellow
• 1 onion, medium
• 1 lb beets (substitute: 16oz can of pickled beets)
• 2 lbs beef – chuck, short ribs, meaty bones or brisket (vegetarians: omit meat and double up on beets, cabbage and potatoes)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp vinegar, white (substitute: 1 tsp citric acid or sour salt)
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 quarts water (more as needed)
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Slice cabbage in half and coarsely shred the other half.
2. Place the shredded cabbage in bottom of the soup pot or Dutch oven.
3. Cut the remaining half cabbage in eight pieces and place over the cabbage in the pot.
4. Peel and quarter beets.
5. Dice onion into semi-large pieces.
6. Add meat, beets and onion in cooking pot.
7. Add bay leaves.
8. Cover contents with water.
9. Bring to a boil, skimming off the foam that forms at the top.
10. Reduce heat to medium and cook until meat and vegetables are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
11. Peel and quarter potatoes, add to soup – watch them turn pink.
12. Add sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
13. Keep adding and tasting until you achieve a good sweet/sour balance. Don’t get frustrated, it takes a bit to get it right. Try real lemon juice if you aren’t getting the taste you want.
14. Cook for another 15 minutes.
15. Soup is ready to eat when the potatoes are tender.

Notes

Ingredients and measurements can be imprecise, and subject to personal taste. Your soup may never taste the same way twice but as you go on, you’ll achieve your own preferred flavor. Once you do, be sure to write down what you did so you can repeat it.

Nutrition