Ruby-red Beet Consommé

This soup was so tempting that I didn’t stop to take a photo before I ate it for lunch!

I had about a dozen beets from the greenhouse in my fridge. They keep well, but they’d been there for more than a week, and I wanted to use them while they were still garden-fresh. (Even after a week, they were way fresher than any beet I would have bought in a supermarket.)

Without a clear plan in mind, I wrapped them in foil and roasted them in the oven while reheating something for dinner. After dinner, I still had no ideas, so I put the foil packet in the fridge. The next day, I pulled them out and peeled them, thinking I had way too many beets for a salad.

Then I remembered a simple soup recipe from Nigella Lawson that had just four ingredients: beets, ginger, lemon juice, and stock. I couldn’t locate it in my files, so I found it online and prepared it in a half-hour, including time to defrost homemade chicken stock. I had a bowl hot for lunch, sprinkled with rosemary, which marries well with the other ingredients. The rest might be had cold with dinner later this week or might go into the freezer for wintertime lunches.

My beets were mostly red, so it was a beautiful ruby-red dish. I’ve also made this with golden beets, which seem a bit milder, and makes an autumnal topaz-colored soup.

It’s a thin soup, not a thick puree, so I’ve called it Beet Consommé just to be fancy. Because it’s not terribly filling, it would be a good first course, either hot or cold. You could certainly change the beet-to-stock ratio if you want a thicker, heartier soup.

Beet Consommé
10-12 medium beets, roasted then peeled
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
juice of 1/2 lemon (more to taste)
2 tablespoons grated ginger root (more to taste)
salt, to taste

Heat the stock and add the roasted, peeled beets and the ginger. Puree with a hand blender or in a food processor or blender. Add lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Taste for seasonings and add more ginger or lemon juice if desired; season with salt. Serve hot or cold. Cold soup may require more salt.

Related articles

• Making The Case For Beets (npr.org)
• Heat Wave Salad with Raw Beets and Carrots (winterbounty.wordpress.com)
• Beet and Orange Salad with Basil Vinaigrette (portlandfarmersmarket.wordpress.com)
• Beet Chips (emmycooks.com)