How cold beetroots are prepared

Beetroot is good both cold and hot.
Cold beetroot is prepared quickly, and it does not require special expenses - all the products for its preparation can be easily found in the store.
This soup is also called cold borscht. But there is still a difference from borscht - cabbage, sorrel or nettle are not put in beetroot.

A few tips:
- When preparing beetroot, peeled beets are boiled whole or cut into several parts. Some recipes make beetroot roast with tomato paste or fresh tomatoes for better color and richness. You can also use finely chopped beet tops;
- Ready beetroot broth must be filtered through a fine sieve or gauze;
- Lovers of sourness are advised to add lemon juice or citric acid;
- A teaspoon of sugar will not hurt, but will add a sweet taste to the beetroot;
- In beetroot, in addition to traditional potatoes and fresh cucumbers, you can add pickled cucumbers, eggs, bell peppers, onions, garlic, radishes, green peas, pieces of any meat or boiled sausage;
Beetroot is usually served in deep plates in small portions with a spoonful of thick sour cream and a sprig of dill or other finely chopped greens.

Cold beetroot

Cold beetroot, which many people often call holodnik, red okroshka, or simply cold borscht, is not at all the soup that I used to call Beetroot soup. Everyone is used to a certain name, but in fact, my beetroot is hot! And that's a big difference, whatever you say.

In fact, beetroot is famous not only for its many names, but also for various cooking methods, and the required composition of the products can be easily adjusted to the one already in the refrigerator. Because there are options for beetroot with mushrooms and fish, on meat broth or beetroot broth, on whey, kefir or kvass, it is served both hot and cold.

Again, beetroot can be made in a dietary version or more satisfying in meat broth, but, in my opinion, ordinary borscht will do just fine with this task.

For the cold beetroot recipe, we need:

Beets - 300 gr.;
- potatoes - 3 pcs.;
- parsley, dill and onion - according to taste;
- egg - 2 pcs.;
- garlic - one clove;
- cucumber - 1 pc. medium size;
- sour cream or mayonnaise - to taste;
- salt - to taste;
- a little lemon juice or vinegar.

Ingredients for making our soup.

Cold beetroot recipe

Let's start cooking by putting the potatoes in their uniforms to boil, that is, it is enough to wash them, pour them with water and put them on fire. Why exactly? If you peel a potato, it will begin to flake when ready and will be more suitable for mashing than for dicing. Potato water needs to be slightly salted.

Separately, we send chicken eggs to boil, do not forget to add a little salt to the water so that they do not burst during the cooking process.

We will do the same with beets. But if, when boiling potatoes and eggs, it is enough to immerse them in water just to cover the surface, then we fill the beets with about two liters of water.
In many recipes, for the speed of the process, it is recommended to cut the beets into cubes. It is better to leave it cut into two or three parts. In order for the broth with beets to remain bright red, we need to acidify it. I made this with lemon juice. One teaspoon is enough for two liters of water. If there is no lemon, add a couple of grams of citric acid or a teaspoon of 9% vinegar. Also, do not forget to salt it a little.

As soon as the potatoes are cooked, drain the water and leave it to cool completely. Many people recommend checking vegetables for readiness with a knife. If it easily sinks into the vegetable, then it is ready. For many years, associated with cooking, I could not get used to the knife. I prefer to do it the easier way, using a toothpick. Peel the cooled potatoes.
You can do this faster and immerse the potatoes in cold water, but this procedure makes them slimy and difficult to cut. Boiled eggs must be peeled and left to cool with the potatoes.

Beetroot takes longer to cook. Therefore, we will have time to cool all the vegetables and cut them while it is on the stove. Cut potatoes into medium sized cubes.

An egg in a smaller cube.

You can even grate it on a coarse grater. We cut all the greens as small as possible with a knife.

Fresh cucumber should be cut into small strips or a small cube.

The beetroot was cooked at this time. Remove the beets from the broth and leave to cool slightly. The main thing is not to pour out the broth itself, in which we boiled the beets. It will be the basis of the beetroot. We need to strain it and cool it. If you want to speed up the process, place the pot of vegetable broth in a large bowl of ice water. The cooled beets can be cut into cubes, but I prefer to grate them on a fine grater.

From this, the broth becomes very beautiful, thick and rich. Put potatoes, egg, cucumber, beets and greens in a saucepan.

Sour cream or mayonnaise can be added immediately or, if the beetroot is supposed to be stored for more than one day, season the dish before serving. Pairs well with beetroot lemon. According to the season and the availability of vegetables, radishes and lettuce can be added. Mustard, horseradish or soy sauce are also suitable for dressing.

Bon Appetit!