Borscht

Note: You could prep all the veggies beforehand and cook them in stages all at once. I find that the cooking time for each vegetable is just enough to chop the next vegetable, so I am cooking while I’m chopping to save time. How you do it is up to you!

Heat a large soup pot to medium heat, or medium-low if your stove gets very hot.

Add the ground beef and break it up with a spoon, then let cook for 3 minutes.

While the beef is cooking, cut the potato into 3/4 inch chunks and add to the beef once it is almost cooked.

While the potato is cooking, work on the beets: Remove the greens, and wash them thoroughly, then set the greens aside. Scrub the beets (no need to peel), cut off the tops and bottoms, and dice the beets into cubes similar in size to the potato. Add the beets to the potato/beef mixture and stir.

Scrub and finely dice the carrot (no need to peel), then add to the soup pot.

Finely dice the onion while the carrot is cooking, and add that to the soup pot. Stir everything together and reduce the heat slightly if anything is sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Cut the cabbage into large chunks and add them to the vegetable mixture. Stir, and sprinkle everything lightly with salt.

Add the tomato paste and flour to the pot and stir to coat all the veggies in the mixture for 2 minutes.

Add the beef broth and stir to combine everything. Cover the pot, and let the soup simmer for 25-35 minutes until the vegetables are tender and fully cooked. Taste the soup, and add more salt if needed.

With 10 minutes before serving the soup, heat a saucepan to medium-high heat with the olive oil. Roughly chop the reserved beet greens and peel and mince the garlic.

Add the beet greens and half of the garlic (about one clove) to the olive oil with a sprinkle of salt. Using tongs, saute the beet greens until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove the beet greens from the pan.

Add most of the dill, the vinegar, and the remaining garlic to the soup pot. Stir, and allow the flavors to combine for 2 minutes in the simmering soup.

Serve the borscht topped with a heap of beet greens, some sour cream, extra dill, and a few extra drops of vinegar if you’d like.

Don’t forget crusty bread for mopping everything up. This is perfect for chilly nights!