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Cold borscht with pickled beetroot

Cold Borscht with Pickled Beets

Beautiful, vivid, delicious, and made from everyday ingredients! Cold borscht with pickled beets is a recipe for a light yet filling summer first course. The pickled beets give it a rich, tangy flavor. You can thin this soup with water or kefir.

katushafin

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Beets (pickled)

200

Potatoes

Eggs

Cucumbers

Radishes

Fresh herbs (green onion and dill)

Sour cream (for serving)

Water (boiled)

0.5

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 20 % 2 g

Fats 20 % 2 g

Carbohydrates 60 % 6 g

39 kcal

GI: 80 / 0 / 20

Cooking method

Cooking time: 20 min

Step 1:

How do you make cold borscht with pickled beets? Gather your ingredients. Boil the potatoes and eggs ahead of time and let them cool. Wash and dry the cucumbers, radishes, and herbs. Instead of water to thin the borscht, you can use mineral water, beet broth, kefir, or other fermented dairy drinks (ayran, tan). You'll find the recipe for the pickled beets at the end.
Step 2:

How do you cook potatoes in their skins? Scrub the tubers with a brush under running water, cover with cold water, and cook for half an hour from the moment the water boils. They're done when they slip off a knife easily after being pierced through the center. Drain the water and cool the potatoes. Peel them and cut them into cubes.
Step 3:

How do you hard-boil eggs? To keep them from cracking, put them in cold water and cook over low heat. Boil for 9 minutes after the water comes to a boil, then plunge them into cold water to cool. The sudden temperature change makes the shells easier to peel. Cut the peeled eggs into cubes as well.
Step 4:

Trim the ends off the cucumbers and cut them into cubes. Or grate them on a coarse grater — some people prefer to grate firm vegetables for cold soups. Go with your own preference.
Step 5:

Do the same with the radishes — slice or grate them.
Step 6:

Finely chop the herbs with a sharp knife. The best combination for cold borscht is green onion and dill; you can add some parsley too.
Step 7:

Put all the chopped vegetables in a bowl. Add the pickled beets to the same bowl. Besides the ingredients listed above, you can add boiled sausage or meat for a more filling dish.
Step 8:

Salt the borscht base and mix. If you're not going to eat the soup right away, put it in the refrigerator.
Step 9:

Divide the vegetables among bowls and pour in cold boiled water (or kefir, etc.), adjusting the consistency to your liking.
Step 10:

Serve the cold borscht with sour cream and dark rye bread, and you can add half a boiled egg to each bowl. Enjoy!

How do you pickle beets for cold borscht?
Beets ~ 0.5 kg.
Boil the beets in their skins for 40–60 minutes (depending on size). Cool and peel them. Cut them into cubes about 0.7 cm in size (you can also cut them into matchsticks or other shapes, but cubes are the most convenient for soup).
Marinade: 1 liter of water; 2 tablespoons of salt; 1.5–2 tablespoons of sugar (use less if the beets are very sweet); 2 tablespoons of 9% vinegar; 1–2 bay leaves; peppercorns (black and allspice).
Add all the ingredients to the water, bring to a boil, and cook for 5–7 minutes. Cool the marinade and pour it over the chopped beets. Let them sit for 1–2 days — about 2 hours at room temperature at first, then in the refrigerator. The main thing is that the marinade covers the beets completely.
If the cucumber skin isn't rough, damaged, or bitter, there's no need to peel it.
For cooking, it's best to use filtered or bottled water that's neutral in taste. If you use tap water, keep in mind that it can give the dish an unpleasant, distinctive aftertaste.
Important! Whether or not the recipe specifies an amount of water for the soup, it's best to go by your own preferences (whether you like a thicker or thinner soup), as well as the size of your pot and the ingredients you're using. Keep in mind that the author has their own view on how much meat, potato, grain, and other ingredients belong in the soup, and it may not match yours. In practice, this means that if you're making it for the first time, you shouldn't cook a whole pot at once. Make a tasting batch — enough for one or two people. To do that, scale all the recipe's ingredients down to 1–2 servings, and figure the water at one cup per serving for a very thick soup, up to 1.5–2 cups for a thinner one. Don't forget that some of the liquid will boil off during cooking. After tasting a small portion, you can adjust both the amount of liquid and the proportions of the ingredients to suit your taste. Over time, like most experienced cooks, you'll be able to add the water and the ingredients by eye.