Recipe of the Season: Beet Soup Two Ways

Beets make a wonderful star seasonal ingredient to add to any recipe. The colours are absolutely beautiful and help brighten up the rainy days of late winter and early spring. My favorite way to serve beets is to roast and blend both golden and red beets into two different soups, which creates a multicolour dish that showcases their vibrance in the form of a healthy, plant-based meal. For this recipe I used beets fresh picked from my vegetable garden.

Golden Beet Soup

Maya’s beet soup two ways

3 Large golden beets, peeled
1 cup Silken tofu
1 Small yellow onion, peeled
3-4 Cloves garlic, peeled
1 Lemon, juiced (~ 4 tbsp)
3 tbsp Olive oil
2-3 cups Vegetable broth or water
¾ tbsp Italian herb blend*
Optional: 1.5 tbsp White wine
*Oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil, and sage
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
~Yield: 4 servings

Crimson Beet Soup

3 Large red beets, peeled
1 cup silken tofu
1 Small yellow onion, peeled
3-4 Cloves of garlic, peeled
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cups Vegetable broth or water
¾ tbsp Italian herb blend*
Optional: 1.5 tbsp Red wine
*Oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil, and sage
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
~Yield: 4 servings

Instructions

1. 1. First, preheat your oven to 410º F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2. 2. Rinse the beets to remove any residual dirt. Be sure to keep any beet greens (both leaves and stems) and set them aside for later use, as they are edible and delicious! Slice the root and stem end off each beet and then compost these pieces, if possible.
3. 3. Peel each of the three beets and cut them into ¼ inch thick slices. This will decrease the cooking time and make them become tender more quickly. Set aside the sliced beets in a large bowl.
4. 4. Peel and slice the onion into ¼ inch thick slices. Add them to the bowl along with the beets. Throw in the peeled garlic cloves, whole, to the bowl of beets and onions.
5. 5. Toss the beet-onion-garlic mixture with the olive oil. Sprinkle in the italian herb blend, along with the salt and pepper. If you are making the golden beet recipe, pour in the lemon juice (and white wine, if desired). If you are making the red beet recipe, pour in the balsamic vinegar (and the red wine, if desired). Mix the ingredients together.
6. 6. Add the seasoned mixture to the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, then remove it from the oven. Give it a toss and poke one of the beets with a fork: it should be a little soft but not fully tender.
7. 7. Return the mixture to the oven and roast for another 10 – 15 minutes, or until the beets are tender and easily pierced with a fork. The mixture, especially the onions, may be a little browned on the edges; this is fine and will impart good flavor to your dish.
8. 8. Add the roasted vegetable mixture to a blender, along with the silken tofu. Pour in 1 cup of the broth or water before blending on high. The mixture should become smooth and creamy. Add in another cup of broth or water and blend again; after this second blend and additional broth/water the soup should be liquidy enough to pour but thick enough to retain a rich texture.
9. 9. Add in another cup (or more) of the broth or water if the soup is still too thick. Adjust to your taste and texture preference. Pour in an additional tablespoon of lemon juice or balsamic if you want to infuse a more tart flavor into the soup.
10. 10. Serve chilled or hot. If serving hot, pour the soup into a pot, cover, and cook on low heat until thoroughly warmed. Garnish with additional salt, pepper, and fresh herbs and drizzle with extra olive oil or balsamic. For a fun multicolor dish, present both golden and crimson soups in the same bowl by slowly pouring each type into the serving dish simultaneously until they meet at the center.