Last week, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I made this delicious soup. Yes, I realize it isn't Irish (obviously)...but it's full of cabbage and for me, that was enough to qualify. In case you think that makes me lame, I also made Irish Soda Bread (which must be Irish because it's right there in the title). But even if I am lame, I frequently have homemade baked goods around, so I would argue that it's worth putting up with me.

RUSSIAN CABBAGE BORSCHT

Makes 4-5 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced potato

1 cup thinly sliced beets

1 large carrot, sliced

1 stalk celery, chopped

3 cups chopped cabbage

1 scant teaspoon caraway seeds

4 cups stock or water

2 teaspoons salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dill weed, plus more for serving

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon honey

1 cup tomato puree

sour cream for serving

chopped tomato for serving (optional)

1.      Place potatoes, beets and water in a saucepan and cook until everything is tender. (Save the water.)

2.      Begin cooking the onions in the butter in a large kettle. Add caraway seeds, salt and a sprinkling of black pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, then add celery, carrots and cabbage. Add water from beets and potatoes and cook, covered until all the vegetables are tender. Add potatoes/beets, dill, vinegar, honey, and tomato puree.

3.      Cover and simmer slowly for at least 30 minutes. Taste to correct seasonings.

4.      Serve warm topped with sour cream, dill weed, and chopped fresh tomatoes (if desired).

from Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen

peeling beet

sliced beets and potatoes in pot

I used a mandoline to slice them very thinly and then I very
roughly chopped them because I was imagining trying to eat these
huge flat slices in my soup. But as you can see in the photo
below, they kind of fall apart enough after they're cooked, so
I didn't need to worry about that after all.

cooked beets and potatoes

onion, salt and caraway seeds

cabbage, celery and carrot added

(I used a bag of already shredded purple cabbage.)

pouring in the cooking water from the beets/potatoes

adding the beets/potatoes and remaining ingredients

all mixed together

after simmering for 30 minutes

russian cabbage borscht

russian cabbage borscht (in a bowl, topped with
a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of dill)

.