Roasted beet soup

While shopping this morning I bought a bunch of beets with very nice leaves.  I’ve already cooked and eaten the beet leaves (with butter and salt for breakfast), so now I am roasting the beets hoping to make beet soup.  I didn’t have a recipe so I googled my desire, and found this.

There’s so much good stuff in beets why wouldn’t you make this all the time? Beets, chard, spinach and quinoa are part of the chenopod family—I didn’t know beets and swiss chard were related, although a look at the leaves should have given me a hint.

So I’m cooking some chicken thighs to make the broth, that way I don’t have the expensive and salt of the purchase kind.  I like to cook them with the skin and bones on because it has a much richer flavor.

Ingredients:

• 3 large red or yellow beets, trimmed, leaving 1 inch of stem
• 1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cups chicken, beef or vegetable broth
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2 Tbs. coarsely chopped fresh dill

Directions:

Roast the beets
Preheat an oven to 350°F.
Put the beets in a baking dish and drizzle with the olive oil, turning them to coat well. Roast until the beets are easily pierced with a fork, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven. When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel and coarsely chop them.

Note: I roasted mine wrapped in aluminum foil.  Less messy that way. Roasted beets are really delicious—very sweet.

Cook the soup
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the beets and broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes to blend the flavors.

Puree the soup
Using a food processor or blender, process the soup to a smooth puree. Serve warm or, for a chilled soup, let cool to room temperature, transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with the cheese and dill and serve. Serves 4.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast Series, Soup, by Georgeanne Brennan (Oxmoor House, 2006).