Monday, March 18, 2013

Beetroot Soup with Greek Mint Yoghurt


My first real introduction to beetroot came when I attended a finishing school in Switzerland (they do still exist!!) one winter for a skiing programme. When you've been skiing for five hours, in the freezing cold, with aches and pains, food of any type is a welcome respite...! I remember how all of us students would enthusiastically fill our plates at the salad bar and its here that I became acquainted with the humble yet vibrant root vegetable.

Growing up we never cooked with beetroot at home, so when I moved to Zanzibar over a year ago in my happily married state I was eager to experiment and make use of what was fresh and available. My husband would buy me some occasionally and I loved adding it to chunky vegetable soups.

Now that I have cooked with beetroot a few times I find myself more and more ambitious to bring out its natural colour in meals. To my artists mind it can't be denied, the rich purple red it produces is simply gorgeous!


I really loved watching this soup come together, and I highly reccommend the mint Greek yoghurt as a pairing as it really gives the soup more texture and flavour.

Beetroot Soup with Mint Greek Yoghurt

Makes 3 servings

For the soup
2 medium beetroots, peeled and cubed
2 tblpsn olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove crushed garlic
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1/4 tspn black pepper
Salt, to taste
1 tblspn mint leaves, roughly chopped

Put beetroot in a small pan, covering with water and boil for about 15 minutes until slightly tender. Meanwhile, in a larger pan saute the onion in the olive oil. Add the garlic, and after a couple of minutes the potatoes. Stir well and let sit for a couple minutes before adding the stock. Once the potatoes are cooked through (about 10-15 minutes) add the beetroot along with the beetroot water. Add the salt and black pepper and let simmer for 2 minutes. Pour soup into a blender along with the mint leaves and blend well. Serve into soup bowls and add a couple of tablespoons of mint Greek yoghurt.

For the Mint Greek Yoghurt

1 cup Greek yoghurt
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of lemon juice
1 tblspn mint leaves, finely chopped

Mix all the ingredients together and serve onto soup.
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7 comments

  1. Thank you Beela. All fantastic and very mouth watering. My choice is Beetroot Soup I shall give the recipe to Chef Shiv of the Courtyard and see what he produces for me.Coconut Ice is the nearest to "Kashata". But of course kashata is coconut cooked in syrup or "shira" in Kiswahili. No colour. Cheers HB

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    1. Thank you :) Am also hoping to eventually do some Swahili type/inspired sweets!

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  3. love beetroot.. never made a beetroot soup before. definitely need to try the recipe. thanks!

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  4. I certainly agree to some points that you have discussed on this post. I appreciate that you have shared some reliable tips on this review.

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  5. I really appreciate your professional approach. These are pieces of very useful information that will be of great use for me in future.

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  6. Thank you, your experience is quite encouraging to me. I think this is the best option for me at the moment.

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