Soup is Magik: Vegetarian borscht: our first soup adventure.

If you're in Brooklyn and you need a ton of

very fresh veggies, try Choice Greene in Clinton Hill

Growing up, my folks used to buy these jars of Manischewitz borscht (beet soup) and eat it with sour cream. I always thought it looked like a scary jar of soupy hearts, and the taste didn't please me much either. But recently, I found out how delicious fresh-made borscht can be, especially when you add dill and other veggies.

I looked up a vegetarian borscht recipe online; Dara and I want to make most of our soups meat-free. This one on cooksrecipes.com looked good, with a couple of changes (more veggies and herbs):

Russian Vegetarian Borscht

1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 Tbsp Butter

1 onion, chopped

3 medium sized carrots, peeled and sliced

1 small parsnip, diced

3 or 4 medium beets, diced

3 or 4 garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp sugar

6 cups vegetable broth or a couple of veggie bouillon cubes

1 small cabbage or kale, chopped

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

1/4 cup tomato puree

salt and pepper

1/4 cup balsamic or red wine vinegar

a good handful of fresh dill

sour cream or plain yogurt

In a big, deep pot, heat oil and butter over medium heat and saute onions, carrot, parsnip and beets until onion is translucent.

Stir in the garlic, bay leaf and sugar and cook for a minute. Add broth, greens, potatoes, tomato puree, and salt and pepper.

Simmer, covered, until veggies are tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in vinegar.

Add a dollop of sour cream or yogurt on top. Eat warm or chill. Both ways are pretty tasty.

On the whole, Dara and I felt this was a successful soup endeavor, though next time I'll add half the amount of vinegar and taste test it before adding the rest--a little vinegar can go a long way.