Cold Borscht Soup

Cold soups of all kinds are perfect for summer, and none are more perfect than this. I grew up on it in Lithuania and know that Slavic people have similar variations as well. This soup is not only refreshing, but also very healthy. It contains mainly vegetables and milk, so you won’t find any gluten there. It is loaded with vitamins, calcium, and milk protein. It is usually served with hot potatoes, so you are likely to consume some carbs, but you can limit the amount of them.

This soup is something I always have in my refrigerator in spring and summer. My kids love it and it’s great for my diet. It is very filling, but also light, so you won’t feel heavy and weighted down. It is very simple to make and can last for a week. If you asked what my family eats for lunch in summer, this would be it.

Haven been on diets like Nutrisystem for a while, I learned a great deal about portion control and healthy real food, making my transition to normal eating easy. This soup is right on track for all people who want to eat healthy. It would work with Keto and vegetarian diets as well.

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ bottle of Lifeway Organic Whole Milk Kefir
• 2 cups of organic whole milk
• A big bunch of fresh or frozen dill
• 3 bunches of fresh or frozen green chives
• 3 large or 6-7 smaller organic cucumbers
• 3 medium organic beets
• 5 organic eggs
• Potatoes
• Himalayan salt

The process of cooking consists of two parts. First, there are potatoes. They need to be peeled and boiled in salty water. Once cooked, pour the water out and dry the potatoes out a bit over the medium heat. You can sprinkle dried, frozen, or fresh dill over them.

I like to start on potatoes before I get all the cutting and slicing done for the soup. My kids enjoy those boiled potatoes browned on a frying pan, so I do that for them sometimes.

Next step is to put halved beets in a pot and fully cook. Fresh beets don’t take that long – about 45 minutes, but older ones can cook for 1.5 hours.

Once beets are soft and cooked, put them in cold water and let them cool of. All 5 eggs need to be hard boiled as well.

The soup itself is very simple to make. Start with pouring all your kefir into a large pot with lid. Pour milk and stir it together with kefir. If you don’t have kefir, you can use buttermilk, but because it is made from 1% milk, it might be too watery, so in that case use less milk and add a couple of spoons of sour cream.

Proceed with finely chopped bunch of fresh dill.

I grow my own dill and always have plenty frozen dill.

This makes my life very easy, but it’s just as great to get fresh dill from your local farmers market and chop it up.

Next, chop green onions. Just like with dill, I have my own grown, chopped, and frozen specifically for this soup, so it is a very fast process for me.

You will need about 3 bunches of fresh green onion chives.

Cucumbers also need to be cubed. I peel the kinds with thick skin and leave skin on of thinner varieties. The best kind for this soup is pickling cucumbers, but any will do.

Make sure they are organic, as cucumbers get sprayed with all kinds of chemicals to prevent pests.

Finally, peel your beets and grate them. Eggs need to be peeled and cubed.

Add all the ingredients and salt the soup to your liking. I add salt gradually and taste while mixing everything together. Make sure you don’t go crazy with salt, because it’s not easy to fix once you put too much of it.

This is it! Simple, right? Enjoy and stay cool and healthy!