There is a veritable glut of beetroot right now, so I have been exploring ways to cooke them. Borscht is a bit fiddly but this is a quick and satisfying winter soup – earthy form teh beets, sweet form both them and teh carrots and sharp with the ginger. In healthy eating terms it doesn’t get much better than this! I am going to make a whole batch for the freezer and, if I am strong enough, try a Keralan beetroot dish with coconut later in the week.

Serves 4-6 in healthy quantities

• Oil for frying, e.g. rapeseed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 medium beetroot, peeled & diced (use gloves if you’re worried about red hands)
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 25g fresh ginger, peeled & grated
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1¼ litre veg stock (I use water, hate manufactured stocks, all full of STUFF)
• Salt & pepper
• flat leaf parsley to garnish, or creme fraiche if you must!

Method

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and fry gently for 10 minutes without colouring, until soft and translucent.
2. Add the beetroot, carrot and ginger. Stir for 1 minute. Add the orange juice and stock. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the veg is tender, about 25-30 minutes or so, depending on how small you’ve cut your veg. Blend until smooth.
4. Gently reheat if needed and check the seasoning before serving. Add a dollop of creme fraiche or flat leaf parsley.