Summer Borscht

There was so much good food in our C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture) share this week. We got blueberries, swiss chard, beets, potatoes, zucchini, cabbage, and basil! Some of the produce went into frittatas (fancy omelets), bits went on homemade veggie supreme pizza, and a lot has just been snitched slowly out of the fridge and eaten by the handful (like the blueberries!). 

Somehow though, when we looked at the ingredients we had left, we had all the ingredients we needed to make borscht. Now I know what you are thinking, and I can tell you for a fact that not only can borscht be served warm, it is delicious, and it is indeed made with beets!!! 

(We took the picture before topping it)

Our recipe is a vegetarian version of the soup, inspired by Ukrainian borscht (which is incredibly tasty, and something I have been craving since I came back from the Ukraine). Most borscht recipes are based on meat broths or cooked with beef, but we left this out since part of our group is of the vegetarian persuasion. They are also served with either garlic or onion rolls, but since we didn't have time to make rolls from scratch we decided to go with dumplings instead. A perfect dessert to top it all off with is vanilla ice cream with fresh blue berries. 

Ingredients: 
For the Borscht
8 cups water
Vegetable broth bullion cubes (about 4)
beets (chunked)
carrots (chopped)
cabbage (shredded/finely chopped) 
potatoes (chunked like the beets)
onion (thinly sliced)
garlic (finely chopped)
Like the college students we are, we didn't really measure anything out when it came to the vegetables. We pretty much just used up whatever amount we had in the C.S.A. That ended up being about seven small beets, 5 average farmers market carrots (smaller sized store ones), a small head of cabbage, about eight little potatoes, half an onion, and four cloves of garlic.
For the dumplings
1 cup sifted All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
These ingredients we did measure. The recipe is the same one my mom uses when she makes beef stew. Needless to say, they are tried and true dumplings, so we didn't mess around with the recipe. 

To make the batter, simply combine the dry ingredients, and then add the milk and oil at the same time, mixing it only until everything is moistened! Then you can set it aside until later.
Toppings:
Sour Cream
Dill

Steps


Step 1: Bring the water and bullion cubes to a boil, stir occasionally until the cubes have dissolved into a nice broth.  *Make sure you keep stirring the soup occasionally as you progress through the rest of the steps!*

Step 2: Add the beets and onion. Boil until the beets loose their color and become a bit tender (approximately 15 minutes) 

Step 3: Add the carrots and potatoes. Boil until they become softened. (about 10-15 minutes)

Step 4: Throw in the cabbage. Drop in spoonfuls of the dumpling batter right onto the soup. (They will expand, so you should get about 8-12 dumplings out of the batter depending on how big you make them.) Cover the pot and lower it to a simmer for about 12 minutes. 

Step 5: Serve it with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of dill (ours was freshly dried from the garden). You can add salt and pepper to each serving individually for preferred taste.  


*This made about six servings. Four of us ate it for dinner, and both guys went back for seconds and extra dumplings. Its a great meal for a cool summer evening, because its fresh tasting, but also satisfyingly filling.