Beautiful Beet Borscht

Well I hate to admit it but autumn is drawing near. The endless summery days are fading into cooler evenings and a beautiful array of colors. Autumn isn't all bad, in fact it's probably my favorite season. The days are still warm and the evenings are cooler making more enjoyable to sleep, workout and of course bringing out a whole different set of clothes. Growing up autumn always meant lots of cooking, baking and canning in my household. My mother would harvest the vegetables from her garden and start the arduous task of making large batches of borscht, salsa, pickles, pies and whatever else you can think of. It was always a treat coming home to a fresh bowl of soup or other goodies that may have been created that day. So now it is my turn to share some of those family favorites as well as some new recipes with you. Prepare yourself over the next few weeks to find yourself reading some delicious recipes that truly come from the heart!

The first autumn recipe and possibly one of my favorite dishes is a traditional Polish/Ukrainian soup called Borscht. Borscht is a soup made from beets, onions, and carrots that is simmered with dill, vinegar and cream. Now I must warn you that this recipe is not 100% paleo but it could easily be modified. I personally couldn't do it, I mean you can ruin a good thing!

To start with we need to make the soup base or broth. Now, personally I think this is a must however if this seems too time consuming you can use the purchased beef or pork stock. 

Stock

3 or 4 beef or pork soup bones

A package of short beef/pork ribs

4 L water

Place beef or pork soup bones and the package of short beef/pork ribs in pot. Cover with water, bring to boil. You will notice this lovely layer of "black foam" appear on the top, we need to get rid of this. Drain the water reserving the bones. Add new hot water to pot and simmer for 1.5 – 2 hours. Let mixture cool, skim fat and remove bones and meat. Reserve meat for later.

3 cups of chopped beats (we always shred the beets in my household)

1 big onion chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 tbsp salt

¼ cup vinegar

1 tbsp white sugar (omit for true paleo)

Dill to taste

Reserved meat

Add these ingredients to the broth and let boil together until the beets are soft. Then add:

 

1 – 2 diced potatoes (omit for the paleo purist)

¾ cup of frozen peas

Simmer until vegetable cooked. Add:

2 cans of tomato soup or stewed tomatoes

2 cans of pork and beans (I know this is weird but it really does the trick!)

Let simmer for a few minutes. Take some soup of the pot and add 1 small container of whipping cream to the removed soup. Pour back into the pot and heat.

Enjoy! This is truly a family favorite and I hope you can add this to your repertoire as well!