Borscht is an Eastern European beet soup. I followed this recipe, minus the meat to keep it vegetarian.

Ingredients

• 3 medium beets, peeled and shredded
• 3 carrots, peeled and shredded
• 3 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 medium head cabbage, cored and shredded
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 (8 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste. Be generous with the salt. The first bowl I made lacked seasoning, likely due to the amount of food yielded by this recipe.
• Sour cream, for topping
• Dill, for garnish

Note: This dish is remarkably cheap given the amount of food it makes. With every ingredient except olive oil, salt, and pepper, which I already had, it was under $20. I sprung for convenience and didn't use everything I bought so I could have made this for cheaper.

Instructions

1. Fill a large pot halfway with water(about 2 quarts), and bring to a boil.
2. Add the beets. The AllRecipes site says to cook until they lose their color but the beets should retain some of their color. Boiling the beets brings their color into the water and into the other ingredients as they are added. This should take 10-15 minutes.
3. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
4. Add the cabbage, and the can of diced tomatoes.
5. While the soup is still cooking, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender.
6. Stir in the tomato paste and water until well blended.
7. Transfer to the pot.
8. Add the raw garlic to the soup, cover, and turn off the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Taste, and season with salt and pepper. I did not season with sugar like the AllRecipes site called for as I didn't think it needed it.

When serving, garnish with sour cream and dill. This makes a huge difference in the flavor and is fantastic. If your grocery store has it, try using Smetana. It supposedly is more authentic and has a higher milkfat content than sour cream. I used the light sour cream my grocery store carried and loved it.

Finished product:

This recipe yields a large amount of soup for the price. The AllRecipes site says this makes 10 portions and that seems accurate and this is very filling as well. This can feed a large party or be stored to make servings for several meals.