Russian folks love their cold soups; it’s one of the things that was around in the 15th century and is still going strong. In the olden days, cold soups were made with flour kvass, and any vegetables (very rarely – meat) that were available, most often turnips, onions and greens, later potatoes, cucumbers, beets. These days they are still made with kvass, but kombucha (chaini grib) and kefir also became popular. Now that you know these random facts, I should tell you that this recipe doesn’t have much to do with the traditional Russian cold soup, except for the fact that it’s also cold. Gazpacho seems to be a more appropriate name, since it’s essentially a bunch of pureed vegetables.
This beet gazpacho is strikingly pretty tossed with green vegetables like avocados and cucumbers. You can really do whatever your heart desires, adding different greens and vegetables that you have on hand. I don’t use tomatoes here because I think their flavor gets lost while making the soup more acidic. Beets are naturally sweet, but you can choose to sweeten it slightly – just add one tablespoon of sugar or maple syrup. Make it probiotic by adding kombucha, kvass, beet kvass or pickle/sauerkraut juice.
HOW TO MAKE BEET GAZPACHO
Ingredients
4 medium beets
1-2 garlic cloves
1 avocado
1 cucumber
1 small red onion
1 pepper, red or orange
Small bunch of parsley
2-3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar (or pickle juice, or beet kvass)
1-2 cups of water from boiling beets (or kombucha, or kvass)
Salt, pepper, sugar (optional) to taste
Sour cream, or Greek yogurt for topping
Instructions
Boil a pot of water and add the beets. Lower the heat, cook until ready, 30-40 minutes. Cool.
Peel the beets. Reserve the water.
Cut up half of the avocado, one beet, half a cucumber and half the onion – for texture and decoration.
Add pepper and remaining veggies in a blender along with 1-2 cups of beet water. Puree.
Mix with the vegetables you cut earlier, reserving a few pieces for topping.
Serve topped with chunks of beet, avocado, cucumber, parsley and sour cream.
Beet Gazpacho {Recipe Idea}
Ingredients
- 4 medium beets
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- 1 avocado
- 1 cucumber
- 1 small red onion
- 1 pepper red or orange Small bunch of parsley
- 2-3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar or pickle juice, or beet kvass
- 1-2 cups of water from boiling beets or kombucha, or kvass
- Salt pepper, 1 tablespoon sugar (optional) to taste
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt for topping
Instructions
- Boil a pot of water and add the beets. Lower the heat, cook until ready, 30-40 minutes.
- Cool. Peel the beets. Reserve the water.
- Cut up half of the avocado, one beet, half a cucumber and half the onion - for texture and decoration.
- Add pepper and remaining veggies in a blender along with 1-2 cups of beet water. Puree.
- Mix with the vegetables you cut earlier reserving a few pieces for topping.
- Serve topped with chunks of beet, avocado, cucumber, parsley and sour cream.
