Summer

Summer Beet Soup with Cucumber Thyme Cream

June 11, 2010
4
3 Ratings
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

I have been making lots of beet soup lately with all the beets from my local CSA. This one is perfect for a hot summer day. It is served warm with a cool cream swirl. It's beautiful to serve and it tastes delicious. I used lemon thyme and the result was amazing. You could use regular thyme, but it won't be as good.... I'm warning you! It's lemon thyme that makes this dish. It's very refreshing!!! I hope you can find some. :) —UntilTheThinLadySings

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • olive oil, or high quality coconut oil
  • 3 large beets or 6-7 small ones
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 medium sized garlic cloves, minced or diced
  • 3 cups organic chicken stock, make sure it is sugar-free if you are low-carb
  • 2 sprigs fresh lemon thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
  • sea salt, fresh ground black pepper
  • 1 medium sized cucumber
  • fresh cream, soured fresh cream, or sour cream
Directions
  1. Wash beets, then wrap each one in foil and bake in oven at 375 degrees for one hour or until fork tender. Cool completely, then peel and chop into ½ inch or less size cubes. Mine came out to 1 ½ cups, but more is ok too.
  2. Heat some olive or coconut oil in the bottom of a sturdy pot for a minute, then add onions and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add chicken stock, and ½ teaspoon of lemon thyme. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. Let it cool enough so that it won’t burn you if it splashes.
  3. Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Please hold the top on the blender when doing this, just in case. I don't want you to dye your kitchen walls pink or burn yourself! Salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Clean out your blender and peel the skin off the cucumber with a vegetable peeler or knife. Blend the cucumber and sour cream together in a ratio of about 3:1 (cucumber:cream) with the other ½ teaspoon lemon thyme. Salt to taste. Set aside separately in refrigerator until ready to serve with soup.
  5. To serve: Beet soup should be warm, not hot. Place beet soup in bowls to serve. With a large spoon, put a dollop of the cold cucumber-cream in the middle and swirl with spoon to make a pattern in the soup. Serve.
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • whatsjohneating
    whatsjohneating
  • TheWimpyVegetarian
    TheWimpyVegetarian
  • Elizabeth
    Elizabeth

3 Reviews

Elizabeth March 25, 2015
I only wish all the recipes show the nutrition values, such as calories per serving, serving size, carbs, fats, etc... It would be so helpful if you are watching carb intake or eve caloric intake.
 
whatsjohneating June 11, 2010
This looks tasty and beautiful. A triumph.
 
TheWimpyVegetarian June 11, 2010
I love beet soup and this looks just great with the cucumber cream!