The Red and the Black... Beet, Barley and Soy Bean Soup

Whew! The past few months have been intense! I will not bore you with work and health related details (this is, after all, a food blog), but let's just say there is a reason comfort food has been the culinary theme in my kitchen for the past little while. Luckily for my sanity, things are finally simmering down. I've also been reading a lot, which is always a good way to keep me sane and happy.

I don't remember mentioning it before, but I am what you may call a book junkie: I love reading all kinds of books and I have an actual library in my apartment, where I spend as much time as possible, away from electronic devices. Books (along with music) have been my escape and pleasure for as long as I can remember, and I tend to get them by the cart-load. I recently stocked up from my Amazon wish list, using the excuse that colder weather means I'll spend more time inside, reading (though when it's warm, I spend a lot of time outside, reading).

For some reason, I am on a classic literature kick lately: Dickens, Austen, Wharton, Fitzgerald, Thackeray, Tolstoy... These guys treated language with incredible respect, as something truly beautiful, and made prose that you can read out loud and it just... flows. I'll grab one of their books, make myself a nice pot of oolong tea, sit in my big reading chair, and off I am! But I do get hungry every so often, and while the books feed my soul, my stomach needs more substantial sustenance.

I got inspired by "Anna Karenina" (and by "Vegan with a Vengeance"), and I whipped up a big pot of this lovely soup. Filling, comforting, nourishing. Just the thing to keep me reading until the wee morning hours! It also feels great with the chilly weather we have been having lately.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons dry tarragon
Freshly ground black pepper
8 cups water
6 medium-sized beets, cut in half, sliced 1/4-inch thick
3/4 cup pearl barley
1/4 cup tamari
1 (15-ounce) can black soy beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

In a stockpot over medium heat, sauté the onion in the olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tarragon and a few dashes of black pepper; sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the water, beets, barley and tamari, cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the beans and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the barley from sticking together, or until the barley is tender.

Add the balsamic vinegar and the dill. Serve hot, with croutons and extra fresh dill for garnish.

OK, I cheated: I used regular black beans, because I couldn't find black soy beans... and I had no croutons, but my boyfriend found a wonderful Russian bread (rye, molasses and malt give traditional Russian bread a rich, dark color, which my boyfriend equates with the darkness of the Russian soul... but mostly, it just tastes really good) that tasted so awesome with a big bowl of this soup.

While my boyfriend and I are enamored with more traditional, minimalist borscht, this soup is more filling, and make a perfect lunch, with enough nutritious goodness to keep you going until dinner! The color is simply gorgeous, and it tastes great reheated (perhaps even better than fresh, to be honest).

The wonderfully comforting smell of beets is something thrilling when the days get shorter and colder. For some reason, it really reminds me of my grandmother's kitchen (even if she seldom cooked with beets): homey and safe. Enjoy this soup whenever you want an escape from this crazy world, into a warm and fuzzy place.

Borscht or Detox by Beetroot

The other day, I went to visit my mother. We talked, drank tea, watched "Dracula" and I made her some of my pork and cider stew - which she loved! In return for the meal I made her, she gave me... a bag of beets. I know some of you will think that this is a weird way of being grateful, but what you don't know is that I had decided to try my hand at making borscht, so those beets were very enthusiastically received! Thank you mom!!

We are having intense soup-weather lately, and as I have mentioned before, the Russians are good at tasty winter comfort food. Borscht is technically a Ukrainian recipe, but most Eastern European countries have their own variants, hot and cold. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the recipe below, as I found it within the colorful pages of Nadia G.'s "Bitchin' Kitchen Cookbook". She showcases it as an excellent soup to cure hangovers, which makes sense, as beets are packed with vitamin C and powerful antioxidants.

I also learned that beetroots are great veggies to munch on to promote a good cardiovascular health because they contain betaine, a very cleansing nutrient that breaks down fatty deposits (of cholesterol on the heart and of alcohol-damage on the liver). Nadia G. was right: party-animals out there ought to stock up on beets and learn to make borscht.

I wasn't hungover in the least when I decided to make this: I was just cold and grumpy. So was my boyfriend. Making my kitchen look like a murder scene was very therapeutic and the smell of the cooking beets and the celery was oddly soothing. It was the perfect night for borscht.

6 beets
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large red onion, minced
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 big pinches brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 celery stalk, halved
1 carrot, halved
1 big pinch dried dill
Sea salt and ground black pepper
1 handful fresh dill, chopped
Sour cream, for garnish (optional)

Peel the beets and chop them into equally sized pieces. Boil over medium heat, in 3 cups of salted water, covered, for 30 minutes. Strain the beets and reserve the cooking liquid. Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the onion. Sauté until the onions are soft, about 8 minutes. Add 2 cups of the beet cooking liquid, along with the stock, brown sugar, cider vinegar, celery, carrot, a big pinch of dried dill and salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Discard the carrot and celery. Add a handful of chopped fresh dill. Throw the cooked beets back in and top with a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

Now listen closely: beets stain. Hardcore.

Wear dark clothes or an apron when peeling and slicing, and if you have decent cooking gloves, use them, or you will look like Dexter. And do not slice them on a nice wooden cutting board: use the crappy plastic one that's been sitting in a dark corner since your last move.

This soup is great if you are the kind of crazy person who works out regularly, as it helps keep all your organs clean. It's also great if you are nursing a cold or dieting, because of the high content of anti-oxidants. See, not just good for the party-animals!

On a cold night, the sweet and earthy flavor of this soup is wonderful and comforting. I also loved the dark red color. If you like it hot, perhaps you'll like it cold, too! Borscht can be served cooled in the hotter months of the year, like a gazpacho. Whatever temperature it's served at, a nice piece of rye bread and a glass of strong red wine are very good friends to borscht.