Borscht

My girls are having a snow day today. I love having them home and usually try to do something special for lunch when they're around to enjoy it. So I took this cold, blustery day as an opportunity to dig up the remainder of my winter garden and create our last home-grown meal of the year with it. Underneath the snow and straw I was thrilled to find several small beets, onions, a few carrots and one teeny bit of broccoli! We ate the broccoli as a chilly, crunchy little appetizer. The rest I cut up into thin strips along with part of a small red cabbage I had in the fridge and turned it into one of my favorite soups of all time: Russian borscht.

Some of my fondest memories of my late father-in-law Gordon, were the delicious homemade soups he used to create. I've wanted to try and replicate his borscht for a long time, but felt intimidated trying to use such odd ingredients in a soup. Beets? Cabbage? Lemon juice? How would it turn out??? I'm so glad I finally overcame my trepidation. It turned out amazing! The girlies loved it and the flavor took me right back in time. If you love beets and you love warm, rich, delicious and very simple soup, you should so give this a try.

Borscht
thinly slice:

• 4-5 small beets
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 cabbage (green or red)
• 1-2 carrots

Add beef or chicken stock and cook on the stove until broth is dark, rich red and veggies are tender.
Add 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste
Garnish with sour cream and serve

I think Gordon would be proud.