I have obviously been on a crazy beet kick for a few months...I also have a very short attention span, so I quickly got bored with eating sliced beets over and over (but I still wanted beets). Oh, first world problems...
My boredom with sliced beets coincided with the explosion of my deck garden. I have tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, and cucumbers in the produce section this year, and the only thing that the squirrels and the doberman leave for me are the cucumbers. (Sidenote: I must have the most healthy wildlife in the city given the amount of veggies that have been plucked in their prime).
The obvious solution, inspired by one of my favorite, now-defunct lunch spots, was to combo sweet beets and refreshing cucumber into a delicious combo of healthy goodness. I combined a number of recipes that I found online to get the combo that I wanted, and this is the result:
What you need:
1 large cucumber
4 beets
4 scallions/green onions
1 tsp creamy horseradish
1 tbsp wine vinegar
up to 1 cup of low sodium chicken stock
3/4 cup light sour cream
a food processor (please note, this is NOT a mixer - this thing has blades...you may substitute with a good blender)
Step 1: Clean and cook the beets per my previous entry. After they are cooked, let them cool for about 60 mins. SAVE the beet juice/water from the cooking.
Step 2: Peel and dice the cucumber, and place it into a food processor.
Step 3: Chop the green onion up to where the stem turns to leaves into pieces similar in length to the cucumber dice length. Place the onion in the food processor.
Step 4: Cube the beets into the same size as the cucumber. Place the beets into the food processor with the other veggies.
Step 5: Run the processor until things start to look smooth. Then add the horseradish and the wine vinegar.
Step 8: Mix with the food processor til everything is well blended. Your mix will be a deep purple color. The fun part is adding the sour cream, since it will take it to a vibrant violet color and will add the sour element to balance out the sweetness of the beets.
Step 9: Pour into an easy container for refrigeration. Cool for at least 6 hours before eating. Enjoy!
Cooking tip: Remember to always taste as you cook! This keeps you on top of your seasoning. Nothing is worse than bland or overly seasoned food...you want to find that happy medium, and you need to taste as you go in order to do that.
My boredom with sliced beets coincided with the explosion of my deck garden. I have tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, and cucumbers in the produce section this year, and the only thing that the squirrels and the doberman leave for me are the cucumbers. (Sidenote: I must have the most healthy wildlife in the city given the amount of veggies that have been plucked in their prime).
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| Winning. |
What you need:
1 large cucumber
4 beets
4 scallions/green onions
1 tsp creamy horseradish
1 tbsp wine vinegar
up to 1 cup of low sodium chicken stock
3/4 cup light sour cream
a food processor (please note, this is NOT a mixer - this thing has blades...you may substitute with a good blender)
Step 1: Clean and cook the beets per my previous entry. After they are cooked, let them cool for about 60 mins. SAVE the beet juice/water from the cooking.
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| Pretty purple |
Step 3: Chop the green onion up to where the stem turns to leaves into pieces similar in length to the cucumber dice length. Place the onion in the food processor.
Step 4: Cube the beets into the same size as the cucumber. Place the beets into the food processor with the other veggies.
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| Ready to rumble. |
Step 6: Now comes the tricky part...you will need to add the chicken stock to taste. I like a stronger flavor in mine, so I added almost the whole cup.
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| Am I allowed to call a 1-cup carton of chicken stock "adorable?" |
Step 7: You will want to use the beet juice/cooking water in order to regulate the consistency of the soup - I only used about a half cup to thin mine out.
Step 8: Mix with the food processor til everything is well blended. Your mix will be a deep purple color. The fun part is adding the sour cream, since it will take it to a vibrant violet color and will add the sour element to balance out the sweetness of the beets.
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| before |
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| After |
Cooking tip: Remember to always taste as you cook! This keeps you on top of your seasoning. Nothing is worse than bland or overly seasoned food...you want to find that happy medium, and you need to taste as you go in order to do that.
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