Fall Soup You'll Love

Nothing means fall more to me than a big pot of piping hot, hearty soup. I love to spend Sunday afternoon during football season making soup. My day goes something like this. I get up early for my 8am strength training class which finishes at 9am. I bring my breakfast to the Y, usually a package of oatmeal to which I add hot water and the cut up fruit and milk I have brought in my little lunchbox. I sit out on the patio, either alone or with some friends, and have my breakfast and a cup of coffee. At 10am I like to take the water aerobics class. It's a good aerobic workout, and a nice addition to the earlier strength training class. I then spend about 10 minutes in the jacuzzi, shower and leave about 11:15. I'm off to either the Encinitas Farmers' Market on Vulcan or Sprouts, to buy the ingredients for my soup. My "go to" soup is vegetable soup, always different, depending upon what I buy at the market. Last week my soup contained parsnips, kale and swiss chard, in addition to the traditional carrots, onions and squash. Today I will give you the recipe for a wonderful Ukranian Beet Soup, better known as borscht. You're probably familiar with cold beet borscht, but this is hot, thick and very satisfying. I hope you enjoy it.

Ukranian Cabbage Soup

12 cups beef stock made with beef
chuck and smoked ham hock
4 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, cored, and chopped
Salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
1/4 head cabbage, cored and
thinly sliced
8 medium Roasted Beets, peeled and diced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
6 pitted prunes, chopped
3 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. sugar
Freshly ground black

1. Strain stock into a large pot, setting meats aside. Bring stock to a boil over high heat. Add potatoes and tomatoes, season to taste with salt, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until potatoes are just soft, about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots, and peppers and cook, stirring often, until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add cabbage and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until cabbage wilts, 6–8 minutes. Add vegetable mixture, beets, and lemon juice to stock in pot and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add prunes, tomato paste, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste and continue to simmer until prunes soften and begin to dissolve, about 10 minutes more.

3. Shred reserved beef chuck into large pieces and add to soup. Pick meat off reserved ham hock, discarding fat, skin and bones, and add to soup. Simmer 15 minutes more. Remove pot from heat, add garlic, parsley, and dill, then set soup aside to rest for 15 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Serve with sour cream on side.

You can make life a little easier by using store bought stock and canned beets. I LOVE the fresh beets and much prefer them to the canned.







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