How to cook cold beetroot - 5 delicious recipes!

In summer, besides okroshka, you can serve a little forgotten but also very tasty beetroot to the table.

Beetroot is traditionally cooked with beet broth, kvass, kefir and even mineral water. Beetroot or cold beetroot is a great alternative to cold borscht and okroshka. Poland, Lithuania and Belarus are considered the homeland of the beetroot.

If you want to make the beetroot taste more sour, add brine, lemon juice or table vinegar to it. Ready-made beetroot must be infused in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

The classic beetroot consists of:

Beet broth and kvass: The broth is obtained by boiling beets in water, and they take sourish okroshechny or bread kvass, and beet kvass prepared in a special way is also suitable. Beetroot can be cooked without kvass, increasing the rate of beet broth;

Beets. The soup is tastier with young small beets, but last year's good beetroot will not spoil, and canned and baked beets are also well suited. It is grated or finely cut;

Cucumber. Fresh cucumber gives this cold soup a special summer flavor;

Boiled eggs. Hard-boiled eggs can be grated or finely chopped. Be sure to leave a few cut in half for decoration;

Greenery: green onions, dill, parsley, cilantro, etc. Greens give the soup freshness, and without it, the beetroot is unthinkable;

Sour cream. Sour cream is used as a dressing in beetroot.

Sometimes they also add to the beetroot (cold drink):

Other vegetables. It is customary to add the same vegetables to the beetroot as to the traditional borscht: potatoes, carrots, sometimes cabbage and tomatoes (or tomato);

Dairy products. They serve as a filling for beetroot and are very popular: yogurt, kefir, yogurt, ayran and tan, buttermilk, whey;

Mineral water. Mineral water quite often replaces beet broth and kvass in beetroot soup. With her, the soup is lighter. The only thing that needs to be taken into account if water is used as the basis of a beetroot or cold beetroot - you need to put 2 times more sour cream in such a soup;

Boiled meat(optional). Boiled meat makes the beetroot look like okroshka, which many gourmets consider blasphemy. However, the meat will not spoil the taste of the soup itself. In addition to meat, you can put poultry or ham into the beetroot;

Boiled seafood and fish(optional). Traditionally, boiled crayfish went to the beetroot. But you can also try to make this soup with boiled fish or even canned fish; boiled crayfish can be replaced with shrimp or squid.

1. Beetroot on kefir

Ingredients:

Cucumbers-350 g
kefir-1 l
green onion-30 g
beets-350 g
dill-30 g
garlic-2 cloves
salt to taste

This cold dietary soup is based on raw beets. The soup is very healthy and easy to prepare. Grate the cucumber on a coarse grater. If the skin is bitter, remove it first. Peel and grate raw young beets.

Place cucumbers and beets in a large bowl or saucepan, add kefir and finely chopped herbs. Add salt and finely chopped garlic. Stir well, add a little cold water, check for salt and serve with a sprinkle of herbs.

2. Beetroot on kvass

Ingredients:

Young beets with tops - 400 grams
carrots -100 grams
bread kvass -1.3 l
vinegar 3% - two tablespoons
green onions -100 grams
cucumber -250 grams
sour cream -200 grams
sugar - one teaspoon
chopped dill greens -80 grams
boiled egg-4 pcs.
salt to taste

Separate the beets from the tops, peel and cut into strips. Cut off the petioles at the tops and cut them into pieces. Pour hot water with chopped beets, add vinegar and simmer under the lid until cooked. At the end of cooking, add the green tops, cut into strips, and bring to a boil. Let's cool it down.

Cut the cucumbers into strips. Finely chop the onion. Cut the carrots into strips, simmer and cool. Lightly mix carrots, beets with broth and tops, cucumbers and onions with a part of sour cream, salt and sugar. Pour in strained kvass and mix.

When serving, pour the beetroot into plates, put half a boiled egg, the remaining sour cream and dill each.

3. Beetroot with quail eggs

Ingredients:

Small beets-3-4 pcs.
small carrots-3-4 pcs.
small potatoes-3-4 pcs.
quail eggs-3-4 pcs.
1 cucumber
beet tops-to taste
green onions to taste
dill-to taste
sugar-1 tsp
salt to taste
sour cream-1-2 tbsp
For vinegar:
red wine vinegar - 1-2 tbsp
raspberry handful

First, we suggest making raspberry vinegar. Just add some raspberries to the red wine vinegar and let it brew. Boil the beets with vinegar or lemon juice to keep the color vibrant. Cool the water in which the beets are boiled, it will become the basis of the beetroot.

Boil potatoes, carrots and eggs separately. Cut all vegetables and eggs in half. Let it cool completely. Thinly slice or grate a cucumber. Mix green onions with salt. Add all the ingredients to the chilled beetroot. Add more salt and some vinegar to taste. Serve the beetroot with sour cream.

You can add a little more mustard, especially delicious with mustard beans.

4. Beetroot on kefir with green onions

Ingredients:

Beetroot-2 pcs.
cucumbers-2 pcs.
eggs-4 pcs.
green onions-3-4 stalks
dill-3 tbsp
kefir-700 ml
salt, pepper - to taste

Wash vegetables. Bake the beets in foil at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes. If desired, peel the cucumbers and cut into small cubes. Chop green onions and dill.

Boil the eggs, cool and chop finely. Combine all ingredients, add kefir and mix. Season with salt and pepper. The fridge is ready!

5. Beetroot okroshka

Ingredients:

Eggs-3-4 pcs.
radish-1 bunch
green onions to taste
dill-to taste
cucumbers-300 g
beets - 1 pc.
tomatoes-200 g
potatoes-1-2 pcs.
sausage-150 g
vinegar to taste
salt to taste
sour cream to taste
sugar to taste

Peel the beets, cut into slices and add water, cook until tender. Add vinegar to the finished broth and cool. Boil eggs for 8 minutes, cool in cold water. Peel and boil the potatoes until tender, let cool.

Finely chop the green onion and dill, add the diced cucumbers, eggs, sausage, potatoes, radishes, tomatoes, cut into wedges. Salt to taste. Add a little sugar to the beet broth. Arrange the finished okroshka on plates and pour over the beet broth, add sour cream and serve.

Small Tips

To make the broth have a more intense color, you can add a few drops of vinegar, lemon juice or citric acid to it. For beetroot, all the ingredients can not only be cut into cubes or strips, but also grated. When preparing this soup, you should not spare the sour cream. It enriches the taste.

If the taste of the beetroot needs to be made more sour, add pickle brine, lemon juice or vinegar to it. You can experiment with the beetroot flavor by combining fresh ingredients with salted or pickled ones. Ready-made beetroot must be infused in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

Beetroot, like okroshka, is served in different ways: both in mixed and seasoned form, and all the ingredients separately.
Dressed beetroot can be stored in the refrigerator for 1 day, otherwise it can become very viscous and sour in taste. But the most delicious is fresh infused beetroot or chill.