BRING ON BORSCHT
Easy soup makes hearty meal
JULIAN ARMSTRONG
Borscht, a warming beet soup, glows with colour as well as flavour in this filling and nutritious soup. Its traditional home is Central Europe where root vegetables are basics in the cuisine, thanks to root cellars and long, cold winters.
This recipe is Ukrainian and combines a series of the roots with fresh celery and parsley, plus a can of lima beans. Our stores have all the ingredients in the produce department, but Maria McLellan, a Mississauga, Ont., home economist of Ukrainian background, notes that four or five canned beets may be used in place of fresh ones. She contributed the recipe to a new cookbook called Homegrown, which celebrates dishes made from Canadian-grown foods (Whitecap, $39.95). The book was produced by Toronto home economist and TV journalist Mairlyn Smith, using more than 175 recipes from Ontario Home Economics Association members.
The book proves that we can create first-class recipes using Canadian foods year-round and suggests we hug our farmers, or at least try to use their foods daily, however pretty the imports may look. There’s some chopping and slicing involved with this recipe, but the cooking is ultra simple.
BORSCHT
Serves: 8
½ pound (2 to 3 medium) beets 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 medium onion, chopped 2 large cloves garlic, minced 2 medium potatoes, cubed, rinsed 3 celery stalks, with leaves, chopped 2 carrots, finely chopped ¼ small cabbage, shredded 8 cups low-salt vegetable, chicken or beef broth 1 bay leaf 1 tsp caraway seeds 1 tsp dried basil leaves 1 tsp dried sage leaves ½ tsp freshly ground pepper 1 can (19 ounces/540 mL) lima beans, rinsed, drained 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, or to taste ½ tsp salt, or to taste
1. Leave stumps of stems on beets and place in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beets are tender to the fork, about 30 minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel and cube. Set aside.
2. In a large soup pot over medium heat, heat oil and sauté onion and garlic for three to four minutes, until softened but not browned. Add potatoes, celery, carrots and cabbage and continue cooking for one minute, stirring to distribute ingredients.
3. Add stock, bay leaf, caraway seeds, basil, sage and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
4. Remove bay leaf and add lima beans, parsley, vinegar and the reserved beets. Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Season to taste with salt and serve hot or cool. Or refrigerate, covered, for up to two days before reheating to serve.