Velvety Beet Soup

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 lb Russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 lb beets, peeled and quartered
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper


to garnish: plain yogurt


Directions:

In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredient and bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes or until beets and potatoes are tender. Use an immersion blender to fully blend the soup until smooth. Garnish with a dollop of plain yogurt.

My thoughts:

Initially, this was going to be a beet-turnip soup but the turnips that were just fine at midnight were squishy (ew!) the next day at 5 pm when I went to prep them. Luckily I had plenty of potatoes on hand so I used them instead. Looking back, I might have gotten lucky, the turnips plus beets might have been a little too strong tasting, in this the potatoes gave a lot of body to the soup and cut some of the "earthiness" of the beets. The balsamic and ginger add a nice zip that perked the soup up. A great alternative to more beet-heavy soups like borscht, which I love but is a bit more work and really for beet lovers; even the beet-wary should love this technicolor soup.

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