in the pink

Having a business associate over for a midweek dinner. Time to keep it light, fresh and fast. Summer suppers stir up images of chilled soup and garden-fresh greens. How about a flash from the past- chilled borscht coupled with airy crab cakes? Here is a beet soup that has stood the test of time. In fact it’s the very recipe I served at my wedding dinner back in 1987.

In my child-bride mind I thought it would look lovely if the first course at our tented sit down dinner complemented my bridesmaid dresses. Pretty sure my sisters never wore those Martha Stewart-esque dresses again, on the other hand this soup has made several revivals over the years. Time to shake off the past, don some rubber gloves and roast some beets. There’s nothing Russian about this pretty little starter- chilled beet soup.

Trim and wash the beets.

Wrap each beet in aluminum foil.

Place on a foil lined rimmed baking sheet.

Bake until fork tender, about one hour. Allow beets to cool in the foil.

With rubber gloves on, remove the beets from the foil and slip off the skins.

Chop the onion and grate the carrot. Sauté over medium heat for ten minutes.

Coarsely grate the beets. (Be careful as the juice from the beets will stain.) Add the grated beets, sugar and chicken broth to the onions and carrots. Bring to a simmer until the vegetables are tender, about twenty minutes.

Remove from the heat and carefully puree with a hand blender.

Stir in the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool to room temperature then chill in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.

Before serving stir in the sour cream.

Ladle into bowls. Swirl top with thinned sour cream and garnish with a sprig of dill.

Delicious with a crisp Rhone rosé. A personal fav, Chateau Revelette. Just happens to be one of my ex’s imports. Some things are keepers.