Chilled Beet Soup Recipes

LITHUANIAN SALTIBARSCIAI (COLD BEET SOUP)

Steps:

• Place the eggs into a saucepan in a single layer and cover the eggs with water by 1 inch. Cover the saucepan and bring the water to a boil. Remove from the heat and let the eggs stand in the hot water for 15 minutes; drain. Cool the eggs under cold running water in the sink. Peel and chop the eggs.
• Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl; add the eggs, beets, cucumber, chives, and dill. Stir gently to combine. Chill in refrigerator for 1 full day before serving.

COLD BEET SOUP (POLISH CHLODNIK)

Steps:

• Peel the beets and grate (coarsely). Finely chop the greens (leaves and stems). Place all in a large pot, add the water or vegetable stock, lemon juice, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
• Once the beet mixture has cooled add the remaining ingredients, season to taste and stir thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (up to 4 hours) before serving.

NINA'S RUSSIAN COLD BEET SOUP (KHOLDNYK)

Steps:

• Mix the buttermilk, cucumber, beets with their juice, green onions, dill, salt, and vinegar in a bowl; stir to mix thoroughly, and chill, covered, in refrigerator at least 2 hours or overnight for best flavor. Serve cold.

COLD BEET SOUP FOR SUMMER

Steps:

• Drain beets, reserving liquid.If using whole or sliced beets, slice into matchstick pieces.Peel and dice cucumber. (I like fairly large dice.).
• Hold back about 3/4 cup of julianned beets in a seperate bowl.Add remaining beets and chopped cucumber to a large bowl. Add reserved beet juice,14 oz. of water and 2 tablespoons vinegar.
• Stir about 1/2 cup of sour cream into the beets you held in the seperate bowl.(this process keeps the sour cream from "breaking up" in the soup and making lumps.)Stir until the sour cream/beet mixture is smooth. Add another 1/2 cup of sour cream. Stir until smooth. Add 1/4 cup of the beet juice from the large bowl and stir until smooth.Stir in the last 1/2 cup of sour cream. Mixture should be without lumps (sour cream should be liqified.)This seems complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it goes quite quickly.
• Add the beet/sourcream mix to the large bowl and stir to combine. At this point, taste to see if the level of vinegar is to your liking, if not add a little more.
• Add the dried dill. The 2 tsp is a good place to start, but I usually add more.
• Cover and chill at least 2 hours.Serve in chilled bowls. My mom adds chopped hard boiled eggs to this soup, so if you want to give that a try it's up to you,.

CHILLED BEET SOUP WITH BUTTERMILK, CUCUMBERS, AND DILL (CHLODNIK)

Steps:

• Using a large knife, separate greens and stems from beets. Thoroughly wash greens and stems; set aside. Scrub beets, transfer to a medium pot, and cover with 1" water. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, uncover, and cook until beets are tender when pierced with a knife, about 10 minutes. Drain beets; discard cooking liquid. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, chop beet greens and stems. Transfer to a large pot and add 1/2 tsp. salt and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, without boiling, until greens are tender, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
• Peel and coarsely grate beets, preferably wearing gloves. Add to pot with cooled greens. Gently stir in cucumbers, pickle, pickle brine, buttermilk, sour cream, and scallions. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cover pot and chill soup at least 30 minutes. Adjust seasonings, if desired. Divide soup among bowls; top with eggs and dill.
• Do Ahead
• Soup can be made 2 days ahead; cover and chill.

CHILLED BEET SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 375°F Put the beets and garlic on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Scatter on the orange zest and thyme, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with the olive oil. Fold up the sides of the foil and crimp to make a tight packet. Put over a baking sheet and get it into an oven for 1 hour.
• Open the packet and check the beets for tenderness by piercing each beet with the tip of a sharp knife and set aside for 20 minutes. If the beets are hard after piercing, continue baking until tender.
• Using a tough paper towel, rub the skin off the beets using both hands and cut them into chunks. Peel the baked garlic cloves and discard the thyme springs and the orange zest, saving any juices in the foil.
• Drop one third of the beet chunks, the garlic, and any juice collected in the foil, some of the honey and chicken broth. Enough to make a smooth puree while blending. Transfer to a soup container. I recommend doing this part in batches, so the puree can blend better.
• When you are done pureeing, add the orange juice and red wine vinegar, and stir. Also, season to taste with salt and pepper. I like this soup a little tangy so I add a little more of the red wine vinegar.
• Refrigerate the soup for at least 4 hours or until really chilly, serve in soup bowls or cups with 1 tsp of sour cream and ENJOY!