Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Guilded Fork's Silky Spring Beet Soup

I've had this recipe printed out and filed for at LEAST a year now. Glad I made it out of my marinated roasted beets rut long enough to finally make this yummy soup.
Guess I just never tried it since it's just going to be me eating it. The Monster is not one for the beet. I figure, if I can't finish the soup in the next couple days, I'll pop the rest in the freezer. I just ate a cup chilled tonight since it's being so muggy out. Maybe I'll try it warmed up tomorrow...
Be picky in your beet selection at the market. Look for beets with nice happy green tops. They're too delicious to toss out!

Silky Spring Beet Soup:
(very slightly adapted from The Guilded Fork's recipe...I use 2 cups less liquid)

1 tablespoon olive oil
beets (about 1 ½ pounds), peeled and chopped (one bunch of 3 large beets was all I needed)
1 organic medium potato, peeled and chopped (I used the equivalent of baby Dutch yellow potatoes and I didn't peel them)
1 medium onion, chopped (used one small onion and a shallot)
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup crème fraîche, for garnish (I used 2% Greek yogurt)
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives, for garnish (I used fresh tarragon)

In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add beets, potatoes, onion and paprika, and stirring often, cook for about 8 minutes or until onions are softened.
Add stock, honey and salt; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer for about 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
In blender, purée beet mixture, in batches (filling the carafe no more than 1/2 full each time), until smooth. (Soup can be prepared to this point and refrigerated in airtight container for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)
Either return the soup to a clean saucepan and reheat without boiling, or chill to serve cold.
I dolloped some Fage yogurt on top of cooled soup and sprinkled with fresh chopped tarragon, but fresh dill or chives would be great options too. Yum!

Ok, now you saved those beautiful beet greens didn't you??
After you've rinsed them well, grab a skillet, turn on that flame and add a little water to the pan.
Layer in those greens, stems and all and slap on the lid. Once the water starts to simmer, cook only for ~2 minutes. Remove from the pan and squeeze a little lemon juice over them, some salt maybe and your done!
Now hopefully, you've got some awesome leftovers like I did to layer on top of those yummy greens. This is Mediterranean baked cod from last night's meal...so easy and so good. Man, I love leftovers!!

1 comment:

recipeas4u said...

beautiful!