Russian/Ukrainian Borscht with an Asian Accent – Vegan

Hello, Borscht Lovers!

Borscht is probably the most famous and popular Russian/Ukrainian soup (I am not going to a discussion here whether it is actually Russian or Ukrainian :)). It is also the favourite soup in our house! Seriously, I can eat it every day and never get tired of it! (Do you remember Vitaly from Madagascar 3? I am a female version of him I guess :)) There are many varieties of borscht: red and green, with sourkraut, meat, and in my case with red beans. Because it is a vegan borscht recipe, it literally takes less than 30 minutes to make it if you cook the beans in advance.

So, why, you would ask, is it with an “Asian” accent? Well, since I was born and raised in Uzbekistan, I was influenced by the local culture and cuisine a lot. Like, a lot! I use lots of spices in almost all of the dishes I make, and cumin and coriander are some of my favourite ones. This borscht recipe is not an exception. What else is good about borscht is that there is no right or wrong recipe. Everyone can make it the way they like it. More cabbage. Less cabbage. Add red peppers. “Forget” celery. The list can go on and on. We like it with lots of cabbage, lots of beets, lots of garlic and onions. I don’t add lots of potatoes though, as Alan is not a huge fan of potatoes.

So here you are:

We usually make a large 6qt. (5.7 L) pot of it, and believe me it is all gone in 2 days. You will want to make enough for 2 days, as the taste only gets better the next day. I also heard people saying that you could also freeze some for one of those nights when you don’t feel like cooking. We haven’t tried it, as it looks like we never have enough to freeze :).

I used red kidney beans (as a protein source) in this recipe, but it is totally optional. If you want to use them, rinse and soak them for 4-5 hours or overnight, rinse again, and cook separately on a low-medium heat for 45min- 1 hour. You could also use canned beans, but we don’t buy canned food here, so I cannot tell if that will taste the same.

Chop onions, carrots and beets, garlic and celery. Cut potatoes into small cubes, shred the cabbage.

Cook onions in vegetable oil for 2-3 min., add carrots, beets, garlic, celery, tomato paste, and spices. Steam for 3-4 more minutes. Fill the pot (2/3rds) with water and bring to a boil.

Catch your kids (husband/girlfriend/boyfriend) stealing the cabbage while you are busy working on the above.

Add potatoes and cooked and drained beans, bring to a boil again, reduce heat, and cook for 5 min.

Add cabbage, bay leaves and lemon juice. Cook for 10 minutes and turn the heat off. Let it sit for 10 minutes and serve. I add vegan mayo and homemade bread crackers directly to the bowl.

Enjoy!