Beet and Ginger Soup

I have made this soup countless times in the past two years. I have been meaning to post this recipe but kept putting it off. It is a simple and straightforward soup, nothing too crazy about the ingredients. In fact you could gather all the ingredients at one grocery store. No need to rush from one place to another looking for galangal or kaffir lime leaves ;) Don't get me wrong there is a place for all those special ingredients, but sometimes simplicity is the best way to go!


This thick soup is gingery, flavourful and healthy. And I love the colour! More about beets here.

Ginger Beet Soup
3 medium size beets
2 tb olive oil
1 leek - trimmed and white part chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tb minced fresh ginger
2 cup vegetable stock
1/2 tb fresh lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Wash and dry beets. Wrap beets in a foil, place on a baking sheet (just in case the beets leak while baking in the oven) and bake for 45 minutes. Cool beets. Remove the skin of the beets and cut into cubes. The skin will slip off quite easily.

Heat olive oil on medium heat in a large pot and saute minced garlic, ginger and chopped leeks. I sauted them gently and reduced the heat to medium low. I wanted to "sweat" the leeks, not brown them. Saute for 7 minutes and add cubed beets. Add 2 cups of vegetable stock ( you could use chicken stock if you prefer), salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Bring soup to a simmer with the pot closed. Simmer for around 10-12 minutes.

Puree soup in a blender or a hand held blender. Please exercise caution if blending hot liquids in a blender as the top of the blender will blow off and you could end up with a Jackson Pollock-like painting in your kitchen! I prefer to use a hand held blender for hot liquids. Trust me, I learned the hard way. Add lemon juice to the soup. Serve

NOTE: Do not bring soup to a boil if you plan make it ahead. Just heat it gently before serving.