No-Cook Lazy Day Beet Borscht
(dairy)

Norene Gilletz

Food Editor’s Note: Food Editor’s Note: This is a great summer soup from Norene Gilletz, author of several popular kosher cookbooks. The borscht is easy to make, cold and refreshing, and beautiful in appearance. Serve it in glass mugs for an elegant presentation. This recipe took no more than ten minutes to prepare from start to finish. Traditional borscht recipes call for sour cream as the dairy ingredient, but Norene has substituted buttermilk - it is healthier, the texture is smooth and creamy, and the taste is wonderful. The borscht aficionados in my family gave it their seal of approval! [Norene lives in Canada, so I have adjusted the amounts in Norene’s original recipe to correspond to U.S. measurements and packaging. You can easily double this recipe to serve a crowd or to have on hand in the fridge for quick lunches.]

Ingredients

14 1/2-ounce can of sliced beets (not pickled)
2 1/4 cups (18 ounces) tomato juice Scant
1 3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste

Drain beat juice into a very large mixing bowl. Process drained beets in the processor using the steel blade, until fine. Combine all ingredients with beet juice in the mixing bowl and mix well. Store in glass jars in the refrigerator. Keeps about 10 days. Serve chilled.

Yield: Almost 6 cups. To freeze, pour borscht into storage containers, leaving at least 1" at the top of each container.

138 calories per serving, 1.1 grams fat (0.6 grams saturated), 4 mg cholesterol, 6 grams protein, 29 grams carbohydrate, 418 mg sodium, 2 mg iron, 3 grams fiber, 149 mg calcium.

Reprinted with permission from MealLeaniYumm! (All That’s Missing is the Fat), a kosher cookbook by Norene Gilletz. Norene’s newest cookbook is The Food Processor Bible (464 pages, soft cover, layflat binding, $24.95 U.S.). For cookbooks, cooking demonstrations & seminars, orders/fundraising info, call 1-888-811-9866 or 416-226-2466 or visit Norene’s web site at http://www.gourmania.com.