Beets Revisited

Nick and I have been turned off by beets since the sliced, slightly mushy pickled variety turned up at the dinner table when we were young. Neither of us had eaten them in years (or even thought of eating them), but we suspected that there had to be more to this humble, crimson root. We decided to give them another chance - this time, cooked fresh, in a savory soup.

The results totally surprised us! The soup was silky in texture, deliciously earthy and - best of all - a shocking color of red. We swirled a bit of sour cream on the top for effect and served it with spicy sweet potato wedges.

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it yourself:

Savory Beet Soup

Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 45 minutes

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup onion—chopped
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 medium beets—peeled and halved
1 medium potato—peeled and halved
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon lemon juice
8 teaspoons lowfat sour cream

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Add broth and next six ingredients (through bay leaf). Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes or until beets and potato are tender. Discard bay leaf.

Place one-third broth mixture in blender or food processor; process until smooth. Place pureed mixture in a large bowl. Repeat procedure twice with remaining broth mixture. Return pureed mixture to pan. Warm soup over low heat for 5 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat, and stir in lemon juice.

Combine 1/2 cup soup and the sour cream, stirring with a whisk. Place 3/4 cup soup in a bowl and top with 1 tablespoon sour cream mixture; swirl sour cream using tip of a knife.

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Per Serving: 63 Calories; 2g Fat (22.4% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 1mg Cholesterol; 415mg Sodium.

Stay tuned. We still have the beet greens and will be trying those next!

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