This is one of my favourite soups – I love the colour almost as much as I love the taste. I adapted this recipe from a wonderful restaurant I use to frequent in London called Moro.

Health Benefits

Not only is this soup delicious – it has numerous health benefits due to the high beetroot content. A recent study by the University of London (published by the American Heart Foundation) showed that a cup of beetroot juice a day can help lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension.

Beetroot is also a wonderful antioxidant, which comes about from the lovely red pigment in the skin called Betacyanin. It may also help to lower cholesterol and stabilise blood sugar.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 tbs olive oil
• Half a large onion, sliced
• 3 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
• 2 -3 rounded tsp black cumin or normal cumin seeds
• 800g raw beetroot
• 1 large potato
• 1.25 liters of cold water
• 3 – 4 tbs of red wine vinegar
• 1 + teas Himalayan Natural Pink Salt
• 1 small bunch fresh parsley
• 100g Greek or natural yoghurt
• Black pepper

PROCEDURE:

1. Dice onion and heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat.
2. Cook for 5 – 10 minutes or until the onion turns translucent.
3. Add minced garlic and ground cumin to pan, cook for 2 more minutes.
4. Add diced beetroot and potato.
5. Pour in the water and simmer until vegetables are cooked (approx. 20 mins).
6. Put vegetables and liquid into a blender (or use a wizz stick).
7. Return the blended liquid to the pot and add the vinegar – this will give it tart taste but it will be softened with the salt. I tend to like mine to have a slight vinegar (pickled flavour) so I am fairly generous with the salt and vinegar but adjust to your taste. Add black pepper to your liking.
8. Serve with a large spoonful of natural yogurt, some chopped parsley and cracked pepper.
9. Warning – try to keep the lid on the pot when you are reheating this soup as bubbling beetroot spraying all over your kitchen walls is alwasy an interesting challenge 🙂

Enjoy!