Cool and Tangy Rhubarb-Beet Borscht
The brilliant magenta of this soup will make you swoon. Serve as an appetite-awakening first course or for a lovely light lunch, accompanied by an assortment of rye crackers and a crisp green salad. Look for lebni, or kefir cheese, at a Middle Eastern market.
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The brilliant magenta of this soup will make you swoon. Serve as an appetite-awakening first course or for a lovely light lunch, accompanied by an assortment of rye crackers and a crisp green salad. Look for lebni, or kefir cheese, at a Middle Eastern market.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb. beets, stems trimmed and well scrubbed
- 8 oz. (about 2 cups) fresh rhubarb, trimmed, cleaned and diced
- 1 small English cucumber, cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup lebni or full-fat plain yogurt plus additional for topping soup
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Slivered red onion for garnish
Preparation
- Put beets in a large saucepan, and cover with water. Put a lid on pan, and cook beets over medium heat until completely tender, for about 18 minutes. Drain beets, reserving cooking water.
- Put rhubarb into a saucepan, and add 1/2 cup cooking water from beets. Cover, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is very tender. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool.
- When beets are cool enough to handle, slip off skins, and cut beets into chunks. Put beets, cucumber, rhubarb, lebni and 3/4 cup cooking water from beets into food processor, and pur8Ee until very smooth.
- Transfer soup to a large bowl, and add more beet cooking liquid if desired to thin soup. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls, and top with spoonfuls of lebni and a sprinkling of red onion, if desired.
Wine Suggestions
Pairing wines with tart rhubarb is hard, but this tangy soup calls for a lush white wine such as the Domaines Schlumberger Riesling from the Alsatian region in France.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size Serves 4
- Calories 150
- Carbohydrate Content 17 g
- Cholesterol Content 25 mg
- Fat Content 8 g
- Fiber Content 4 g
- Protein Content 4 g
- Saturated Fat Content 4 g
- Sodium Content 135 mg
- Sugar Content 12 g
- Trans Fat Content 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat Content 0 g