Let’s be honest.  The only reason I made this soup in the first place was because it is the shade of my favourite colour.  A deep magenta, this soup has been calling my name ever since I saw the picture of it in my very first Canadian Living cookbook.

This soup is the ultimate cheap student meal, and cost less than a dollar per serving.  I made it late last week and have been eating the leftovers at school non stop since then.  I was so worried that the tupperware container holding the soup would simply explode in my backpack and leak all over me, making me appear like some sort of mass murderer and Dexter wannabe.  Luckily this did not happen.  Okay, back to cheap.  You can’t really tell from the picture, but this soup actually had several different types of vegetables in it.  While it’s true that the colour of the beets dominated EVERYTHING (and dyed my hands a bright pink hue), there was also carrots, potato, celery, onion and green beans.  Only the latter managed to partially maintain its colour.  Also, can we just mention how awesome it is that this recipe has ketchup?!  Seriously, ketchup added to anything is the best.  Leaving these ingredients in a big stock pot to brew away for two hours resulted in a wonderful soupy liquid that made me feel like I was in Harry Potter’s potions class.

Ooo, and fresh dill is SO good!!!

PS: I have so, so, sooo many backlogged blog posts chilling out in my “blogger queue” right now.  I’ve been making all this stuff lately, particularly food of the baked variety, and simply haven’t had time to blog about it!  I think this weekend I’m just going to prepare a bunch of posts and have them schedule to publish at various times throughout the week.  Let the phantom blogging begin!

PPS: Holy, beets are super good.  I’m going to make beet chips next week.

Check out the recipe after the jump!

Recipe: Ruby Red Borscht
Adapted from the Canadian Living cookbook “Everyday Favourites”

– 2 small beets, peeled and chopped
– 1 cup cabbage, shredded
– 1 onion, chopped
– 1 potato, peeled and chopped
– 2 small carrots, chopped
– 1 stalk celery, chopped
– 1/2 chopped green beans
– 4 cups vegetable stock
– 1/4 cup ketchup
– 1/4 cup sour cream
– 1 tbsp all purpose flour
– Pinch of pepper
– 4 tbsp chopped fresh dill

Cut off the stems and greens of beets.  Shred cabbage and set aside.  Peel beets and chop.  In a large stockpot, combine beets, cabbage, onion, potato, carrot, celery and green beans.  Pour in stock and ketchup; bring to boil.  Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 1 hour.  In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream, flour, lemon juice and pepper; stir into soup (I think I forgot to do this, ooops). Stir in chopped dill.  Ladle soup into bowls and garnish each with a spoonful of sour cream and dill.  Makes 6 servings.

Notes: I ran out of vegetable stock after three cups and just used water to make up the fourth cup of liquid.  Also, be generous with the dill, it makes such a difference!