Borscht

There are a few reasons I decided it was appropriate to put this Borscht recipe up. The first reason is that Borscht is pretty tasty... but there's more! I love that Borscht is practical (cheap, filling, easy to make, all kinds of vitamins etc.) but it's not exacting. It's a bit like chowder is to us New Englanders, just toss in whatever you have on hand. I also love the cross cultural aspect of Borscht. My recipe is modeled on one from a friend who is Russian-American, but Borscht is originally Ukrainian and was historically eaten all over Eastern and Central Europe and today all over the world. I was on the civil rights team in high school and anytime we had to broach some important issue with the student body, we would start the discussion with some food. Food is a form of communication. Sometimes it works better than words and images.

The borscht I am making today also relates to my interests in Victoriana and fictional end of the world scenarios because it doesn't require refrigeration. All the food (with the exception of the sour cream garnish) is canned or freeze dried or from your root cellar. You don't need electricity. You could make this on your wood stove or camp stove or what have you. It makes me think of arctic explorers with their early canned goods and of the ad hoc meals from canned goods described in The Stand and seen in 28 Weeks Later. (I know it's a little weird that that pasta meal really stood out to me when the point of the scene was the zombies beating down the door, but I am always interested in what people eat after the world ends.)Anyway, Enough blather. On to the borscht!
To make the borscht, you will need:


A Medium Onion, chopped


A medium potato, chopped


Put them in a medium saucepan on a medium heat and add a small can of tomato paste.


Add a little water.


Once the onions begin to turn clear, add in a can of sauerkraut and stir.


Then, add in a can of beets and stir.


Now, add in a can of spinach and stir. Mix it all up and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.


Garnish as you like (I used sour cream and freeze dried chives) and enjoy!
If you don't eat it all in one sitting, it will freeze. It's good hot or cold. It's a beautiful red to brighten up your winter day and you can change the recipie to acomidate your needs. (You can use broth instead of water, or fresh veggies instead of canned or soy sour cream instead of the milk stuff. Toss in a carrot or rutabaga in place of the potato. The possibilities are endless! If you want to use fresh cabbage, it won't have the salty/ sour element the sauerkraut has, so I'd recommend adding a little salt and some lemon or vinegar. Also, when you use the canned veggies, don't drain them. Just put the water in the pot. It is a soup after all and that water has nutrients.) I'd also like to mention this post about photographing food that was one of the inspirations to do this recipe today. Thank you!