Orange and Beet Soup

I don't often cook with beets, which is an oversight I hope to correct, especially considering beets are packed full of nutrition. Both the leaves and root can be eaten. The roots are an excellent source of vitamin C, while the leaves are rich in vitamin A. Beets are also an excellent source of dietary fiber, potassium, calcium and contain anti-oxidant properties. Beets are celebrated for their medicinal properties and widely believed to be an excellent choice for purifying the blood and liver. If the leaves are green and healthy, take care to save them, even if the dish you are making only calls for the root. They make an excellent salad green.

I've adapted this recipe from Small Bites, an unusual little cookbook I found at the library recently. It's not the most vegetarian friendly cookbook, but it does contain some tasty and sophisticated recipes that I plan to make in the near future as I am intrigued by the unique blend of flavours presented throughout. If this beet soup is any indication of the quality of recipes, I'm in for a treat! The book also includes some lovely photographs of each dish.

Note: if you are not using vegetable stock, increase the amount of salt and add a teaspoon or two of celery seed.

Orange and Beet Soup

1 pound of small beets, trimmed and scrubbed
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, chopped (or a few teaspoons of dried thyme)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of grated orange zest
juice from one small orange
4 cups of vegetable stock
3 tablespoons of yogurt
small handful of beet greens, finely chopped
small bunch of chives, chopped
1 cup of yogurt

Put the washed beets in a pot of water and boil for 45 - 1 hour or until the beets are soft and can be easily pierced with a fork. Cool, remove the skins and roughly chop the cooked beets. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir and fry for about 10 minutes, then add the beets, vinegar, orange zest and juice and stock. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the chopped beet greens and transfer 3/4 of the soup to a blender or food processor and process until pureed. Return the pureed soup to the pot and stir.

Stir in a few tablespoons of the yogurt and half of the chives and adjust the seasoning accordingly. Serve in small bowls, adding a dollop of yogurt to each bowl and a sprinkle of the remaining chives. This soup yields 6 - 8 large bowls.

As an alternative to adding a dollop of yogurt at the end, the original recipe suggests combining the cup of yogurt with half of the chives and freezing the mixture in an ice-cube tray. Instead of adding a dollop of yogurt to each bowl, simply drop in a frozen iced yogurt cube.