Make Ahead

Golden Beet Summer Soup

February 22, 2010
5
1 Ratings
  • Serves 8 as a starter, 6 for lunch.
Author Notes

I was slow to appreciate beets and used to complain that they tasted "like dirt".One Christmas lunch, our daughter-in-law brought a lovely salad with roasted golden beets. I became hooked on them! This morning, I woke up with an idea for a chilled soup and found beautiful organic golden beets and dill at the market. Obviously, I'm ahead of season but spring is just around the corner in San Diego, and gardens here are beginning to "pop". —Lizthechef

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Ingredients
  • 6 organic golden beets
  • 2 cups best quality vegetable stock
  • 1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup low-fat sour cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
  • juice of one Meyer lemon
  • 1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
  • 3 scallions chopped, white and light green parts
  • 1 hothouse cucumber, seeded, large dice
  • 1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped
Directions
  1. Wash and top the beets. Boil until tender, about one hour of cooking.
  2. Drain the cooked beets, saving two cups of the cooking liquid.Cool and remove skins. Strain the cooking liquid and cut the beets into large dice. Set beets and liquid aside.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the cooking liquid, stock, yogurt, sour cream, saffron, lemon juice and sugar. Add salt and pepper.
  4. Add the beets, scallions, cucumber and dill.
  5. Stir and chill 6-8 hours. Garnish with a dollop of yogurt and some chopped dill before serving.

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7 Reviews

Maefly February 26, 2010
Sounds great - I was a late bloomer to beets as well, but learned to appreciate them at the San Francisco Farmer's Market. I do prefer the golden ones to the red ones... the sight of borscht still gives me bad memories.
mrslarkin February 24, 2010
This sounds delicious! I think I will nickname you "Meyer Lemon Liz." Beautiful photo too. Love that china. What is it?
Lizthechef February 24, 2010
Thanks - this is only my third food photo, such a novice...The china is "Shelley". I was with my Grandmother in Harrod's (I was 12) and she bought the set and shipped it home with us on the QEI - those were the days!
TheWimpyVegetarian February 23, 2010
This looks great! I don't see a lot of recipes for golden beets especially for a soup, so I'm looking forward to trying this. It looks like a great combination of flavors.
Lizthechef February 23, 2010
Thank you - it really was the first time I had tried it, thinking about finer points of the recipe while driving home from the market, not my usual style...
NakedBeet February 22, 2010
I love your golden beet flavors and will have to look for them in our farmers's markets since anything other than burgundy isn't in regular supermarkets. I'm growing a fondness for meyer lemons and love that addition, too.
Lizthechef February 23, 2010
I lucked out at the market, especially the huge bouquet of dill. To tell the truth, our Whole Foods is loaded with organic red and golden beets that look quite good...I want to try your recipe and will comment on it now - thanks.