Beetroot and Ginger soup

1tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 garlic clove crushed
5cm/2inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
450g/1lb beetroot, cooked, peeled and roughly chopped
860ml/1&1/2 pints chicken stock
salt and pepper
1tbsp cider vinegar
1tbsp vodka (optional)
To Serve:
4 tbsp greek yogurt
chopped chives, dill or coriander

in a heavy bottom saucepan heat the oil and cook the onion and carrot til soft but not colored. Stir in the cumin, ground ginger, garlic, and half the fresh ginger. Cook stirring for 1 min.
Add beetroot, and stock. Season with salt and pepper, bring back to a boil, reduce and simmer for 20 minutes.
Liquidize the soup and sieve into a washed out pan.
When ready to serve, reheat without boiling, season if necessary, and add the rest of the fresh ginger (to taste).
Pour into bowls and garnish.

I’ve always liked beets, but I was convinced that if I cooked with them everything would turn red, my hands, my dishes, my countertops etc. Turns out it’s not actually that big a deal. I didn’t even get purple fingers.

I chose this recipe because I thought it would be a nice cleansing dinner (after my recent dessert binge). It was exactly that. You could really taste the beets and the ginger. I could have cooked and processed mine a bit longer, as it was it could not be strained, but I don’t need my soups to be perfectly smooth, so I was ok with that. I thought it would be a prettier color, but I guess the other ingredients wash out the color of the beets. All in all, this was good, but I'm not over the moon about it.

This was from “Leith’s Healthy Eating”, and I made it with the Brown Soda Bread. It was a nice combination. I think I will use beets more in the future.