When I published my last post on sprouted wheat bread, I promised to post this soup recipe (it’s a little late, I’m afraid!). This soup has a pretty long history in my life. Many years ago I read a cookbook by a Russian woman who lived in the United States. I liked her Borscht recipe very much. She claimed that it was given to her by someone who had been in the Tsar’s army– thus the name. Now, this was in my pre-vegetarian days and the soup included beef. Eventually, in the 1970’s, I became more interested in eating vegetarian and I revamped the recipe in a very simple way– using soy sauce to “beef” up the meatless broth (this was in the days when vegetarian bouillons were not so readily available) and adding 1/2 cup of red split lentils to add protein and body to the soup.
I haven’t changed anything in this recipe since, except for when I made it the other day, I used 1 cup of red split lentils and I cooked it in my electric pressure cooker. It is still as delicious as ever and so simple to make– I don’t know why I never added it to any of my cookbooks! But here it is now, and I hope you like it as much as we do– it’s great for winter meals!
BRYANNA’S MEATLESS “TSAR’S ARMY” BORSCHT
Serves 8
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 large onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery leaves
8 cups water
14 ounces canned diced tomatoes and juice
1/2 small head cabbage, shredded
2 beets (fist-size), peeled and diced
1 cup split red lentils
1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
Finishing:
1 small raw beet, peeled and grated
salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Add the two oils to your soup pot over high heat. Add the onions, garlic and celery. Sauté over medium-high heat until the onion softens a bit. Add the 8 cups water, tomatoes, cabbage, beets, soy sauce and lentils. Bring to a boil, turn to a simmer and cook for 2 hours, OR pressure-cook for 45 minutes, using quick-release when it’s done. Add the grated raw beets (which brings back the pinky-red color to the soup) and taste for salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 174.9 calories; 12{ae720e0b436026f867bfa0c31185c2252a138f27e85f5f152ec5acc1c10a8cc9} calories from fat; 2.5g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 701.6mg sodium; 716.9mg potassium; 31.5g carbohydrates; 7.2g fiber; 9.8g sugar; 24.3g net carbs; 9.5g protein.
Enjoy!
