Of the cold
summer soups, usually only an okroshka comes to mind, which many have already fed up with, but few remember and continue to cook such a wonderful dish as cold soup with beets. But this is not only a tasty and healthy dish. It also looks very impressive on the table: just imagine this rich beetroot color in a plate, and all this is decorated with a pinch of greenery. A wonderful meal is provided for you and your guests. It is prepared in many countries, which has given rise to many recipes, which cannot but rejoice, because of them you can always choose the one that you like.
Cold beetroot soup (classic recipe)
For this recipe you will need beets (3-4 pcs.), Eggs (3 pieces), kefir (0.4 liters), herbs (dill and onions), as well as fresh cucumbers (4-5 pieces). This recipe involves the preliminary preparation of beets: it must be peeled, cut into cubes and boiled. Moreover, it should be cooked in a special way: put chopped vegetables in a saucepan and pour water just enough so that the water barely covers them. Then you need acid, ideally it is advisable to use lemon juice, but you can do vinegar (table or apple) in the old way. This point is very important, because the addition of this component will ensure the brightness of the colors and will not allow the color to completely leave the vegetable. Pour the acidic component to the beets and cook everything over low heat under a closed lid until fully
readiness. While this all cools down, cook the eggs: they need to be boiled hard, cooled and cut. Cut or grate cucumbers on a coarse grater. Mix everything in a saucepan with cooled beets, salt to taste and pour kefir. Cold soup with beets is ready, it remains only to decorate it with fresh herbs. You can exclude kefir and replace it with sour cream or yogurt. In any case, the dish is better to let stand a little in the refrigerator.
Cold beetroot and zucchini soup
You can diversify the recipe by adding zucchini to it and removing kefir. To do this, you need to boil all the vegetables and turn into mashed potatoes, for which chop them together with the broth in a blender. Salt and pepper the resulting mashed soup. Cream cheese, as well as a handful of pine nuts and, of course, greens are well suited as decorations.
Cold soup with beets and ham
Another variety of beetroot. Such a soup will be very rich and satisfying due to the presence of ham and tomatoes. Take three pieces of beets, carrots and tomatoes. Cut everything and simmer over medium heat until the root crops are ready, do not forget about vinegar. Next, add the potatoes. When it is ready, remove the soup from the heat and cool. Cut the cucumbers and ham into strips and add to the already cold beetroot, mix and serve. Pour into plates, garnish with a spoon of sour cream and herbs, and put half of the hard-boiled eggs on top. As you can see, beetroot soup, the recipe of which does not require special expenses, is an excellent lunch for a hot day. Here are some basic recipes, but no one forbids you to experiment with the ingredients. The main element is beets, it is it that gives the taste base and, importantly, color.