Ukrainian Vegetarian Borscht

This borscht is a perfect option for vegetarians and those who do not consume meat. Lots of veggies and hearty roots will make this borscht your favorite wintertime soup.

If you are using tomatoes for this borscht, start by cutting them into 2-4 parts. Place tomatoes in a little pot, add a bit of water and stew for about 7 minutes. Strain the tomatoes through the mesh sieve.

Cut the beets into thin strips, sprinkle with white vinegar and cook with some oil on a skillet for 10 minutes. Then add ½ cup water, cover with a lid and cook for 40 minutes. Cut the carrots, parsley root and onions into thin strips and cook in a separate skillet with a little oil until onions start to become golden. Then add tomato puree or sifted tomatoes and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Then add stewed beets and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Heat some oil on a skillet, add flour and cook, constantly stirring, until the flour becomes golden in color. Remove from the heat, cool it down and add 4 tablespoons of water and mix well. Strain through the mesh.

Add water to a pot and bring to a boil. Add chopped green cabbage and, in 5 minutes, add cubed potatoes. Then add stewed vegetables, flour mix, peppercorns and 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. Let the borscht simmer on low for 20 minutes.

When serving the borscht, add sour cream and chopped dill and parsley to each bowl.

You will need

For borscht:

• Water – 6 cups
• Beets – 10 oz
• Fresh green cabbage – 12 oz
• 4 medium potatoes
• ½ medium carrot
• 1 parsley root
• 1 onion
• Tomato puree – 4 tablespoons OR
  4 medium tomatoes
• Vegetable oil – 4 tablespoons
• All purpose flour – 1 tablespoon
• Sugar – 2 teaspoons
• White vinegar – 3 teaspoons
• 4-5 peppercorns
• Salt – to taste

To serve:

• Sour cream
• Chopped dill
• Chopped parsley

Options:

1. You can also add celery root when stewing the vegetables. In this case, you will only need ½ parsley root.
2. You can stew the roots and add them straight to the boiling borscht. In this case, add only tomato puree to the stewing beets for the last 10 minutes.
3. You can use butter instead of vegetable oil, if you like.