Vegetarian Ukrainian Borscht (Red Beet Soup)

After several requests for my borscht recipe, here it is.
Ukrainian Borscht… everyone knows what it is and many people around the world have fallen in love with this iconic beet soup.
I love the deep ruby color of this borsch! It’s so healthy and nutritious; packed with beans, beets, carrots, potatoes, cabbage.

Ingredients
12 cups water, vegetable broth or stock low sodium
15 oz. green cabbage thinly sliced
1 large onion chopped
3 medium carrots chopped
1 can Butter Beans
1 cup red and yellow bell pepper
2-4 tablespoon olive or avocado oil
1-2 small beets peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 large potatoes peeled and cubed
1-2 tablespoon tomato sauce
1-2 tablespoon Organic Sundried Tomato Pesto with Basil
3 bay leaves
3 large garlic cloves grated
Ground black pepper and salt to taste
1/4 cup dill and green onion finely chopped

Instructions
It’s best to have all of the ingredients prepped and ready to go which makes this soup super easy and care free.
Start by peeling, grating, chopping, slicing and dicing all of the vegetables for borscht.
Once your potatoes are peeled and sliced, transfer them to a bowl of cold water to keep them from discoloring until ready for use.
Use gloves when handling beets or your fingertips will stain red for a couple of days.
To peel beets, use a simple potato peeler.
You can slice the beets into matchsticks.

Heat a large soup pot (5 1/2 Qt. or larger) over medium heat and add 2-4 tablespoon olive/avocado oil.
Add onion, peppers, celery, carrots and beets and sauté 2-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until beets are softened.
Add 8 cups water. Add sliced potatoes then cook for 6-10 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork.
When potatoes reach desired softness, add tomato sauce, garlic, cabbage and 1 can of beans, bay leaves, salt, black pepper. Add more boiling water.
Simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes and add chopped dill and green onion and more salt to taste.

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