Beet Borscht

From the garden

• 1½ lb beets, peeled and coarsely grated or cut into matchsticks
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 medium carrots, coarsely grated
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cups green cabbage, shredded
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

From the pantry

• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ cup sour cream — for serving
• salt — to taste
• black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat and cook the onion and carrots with a pinch of salt until soft, 5–6 minutes.
2. Add the beets and tomato paste and cook, stirring, 5 minutes — sautéing the beets first deepens both the color and the sweetness.
3. Pour in the stock, add the potatoes and bay leaf, and simmer, partly covered, 15 minutes until the potatoes are nearly tender.
4. Add the cabbage and garlic and simmer 10 minutes more, until every vegetable is tender but not mushy.
5. Balance the soup: stir in the vinegar and sugar, then taste — borscht should land gently sweet-and-sour, so adjust both plus salt until it's bright. Fish out the bay leaf.
6. Stir in most of the dill and serve each bowl with a dollop of sour cream and the rest of the dill scattered over.