Apple Beet Soup

So, Tuesday night my thought process was a little like this:

Adam is coming home a day early!

Did I make enough dinner?

SHIT.

I am making beet soup for dinner.

I grate, measure and stir and slide a baked zuccinni and egg side dish into the oven, and then am left standing there, staring at the soup simmering on the stove top. “Well, this will just have to do”, I think to myself.

When Adam walks through the door I hug him, and say slightly apologetically: “We are having beet soup for dinner..... I didn't know you would be home early when I started it.... ?!?.” I usually try to have a slab of meat waiting for him and tonight's dinner is vegetarian through and through. AND IT IS BEETS!

Adam – well – reluctantly admitted: “It was good – for a beet dish.” (Which I interpret as success.)

Ivory liked it. How could she not? It was fuchsia colored after all.

Sylvan loved it, clapping his hands excitedly between spoonfulls.

And I, well, I might have discovered a winning apple and beet combination.

Apple Beet Soup

3 tablespoons canola oil

4 leaks

1 large carrot, diced

8 beets* (directions on preparation bellow)

2 sweet apples, pealed, cored and chopped

1 ½ dried thyme

½ teaspoons dried sage

¼ teaspoon dried tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

3 cups water/ vegetable broth

1 cup apple juice

Apple Cream Sauce

½ cup apple juice

½ cup plain yogurt

• *Wash whole beets, leaving stems, and place into a pot of boiling water until they can be poked with a fork. Once they are soft, rinse with cold water until they can be handled. Slip of the skin and cut into smaller pieces.
• While the beets are simmering away, heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leaks and carrots, saute until softened. Add spices. Add the water/vegetable broth and apple juice. Add the skinned and chopped beets and simmer together for 30 minutes. Cool slightly and blend. (I like to blend only half of it and leave a few chunks.)
• While the soup is cooking, pour ½ cup of apple juice into a small sauce pan and cook until the volume is reduced by half. Stir the reduced apple juice into plain yogurt. (I make my own from a Greek yogurt culture. It is creamy and mild flavored.)
• Laddel the soup into bowls and drizzle with the apple cream sauce.
  
  
  
  
  

Enjoy the taste and bounty of the fall season.

If you try it let me know what you think!