Borscht (Russian-Style Beet Soup)

1. Heat the oil in a 5-quart pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the meat in a single layer and cook until browned on both sides, about 4 minutes, flipping once. (You might need to do this in 2 batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan.)
2. Add the bay leaf and half of the beef broth, and bring to a boil. Then cover the pot, turn heat down to simmer and cook 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
3. While the beef cooks, prep all the vegetables according to specifics in the above list. For the beets, shred 1/3 of the beets and finely chop the remaining 2/3, keeping the shredded and chopped beets separate. After an hour, add the finely chopped beets to the pot; bring back up to a boil, then cover the pot and cook 10 minutes.
4. Then add the shredded beets, carrot, celery, onion, potato, cabbage, garlic, salt, black pepper, allspice, tomato paste and remaining beef broth. The vegetables should be just covered with liquid. You can add water if you need more liquid to cover them. Cover the pot and bring it back up to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
5. Add the vinegar, then turn off the heat and stir in the dill. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as desired.
6. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of fresh dill.

Notes:
– Peeling vegetables: For this recipe, I use organic beets, carrots, and potato, and give them a good scrub before using. But I don’t peel them because the skin holds a lot of nutrition.
– Beets tip: Look for smaller beets since their skin is more tender.
– The potato sort of melts right into the soup so you will be left with little bits of potato skin, which I didn’t mind at all. However, if you prefer, you can peel the potato.