A delicious vegetarian Cold Beet Soup, made from beets, cucumbers, kefir and lots of dill - called Holodnik (холодник). Full of Probiotics. Tasty like Okroshka or Svekolnik, the perfect chilled soup on a hot summer's day (extra special with smoked chicken or ham)
Course Soup
Cuisine Russian
Keyword chlodnik, Cold Beet Soup, holodnik
Prep Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 1 hourhour
Ingredients
Holodnik
3large Beetsabout 1kg or 2 lbs
1Long English Cucumber
10Hard Boiled Eggs
32oz(1 litre) Kefir
4cupsbeet stocksaved from boiled beets
3green onions
2teaspoonssalt
juice of a lemon
Garnish
1cupsour creamor smetana
dill bunchchopped
diced smoked chickenoptional
Instructions
Prepare Beets - peel the beets and boil them until they are cooked and soft (easily pierced with a fork). This will take around 40 minutes, depending on the size of the beets. Grate the beets and set aside.
Save Beet Stock - set aside 4 cups of the beet liquid for your soup.
Hard Boil Eggs - cover eggs with water in saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover with lid and remove from heat. Set timer for 11 minutes. Remove eggs and place in ice bath to cool before using.
Prepare Vegetables and Eggs - Finely slice the cucumbers into thin matchsticks, slice green onions and dice 6 of the hard boiled eggs. Slice the remaining 4 hard boiled eggs in half lengthwise and set aside.
Mix Soup Base - in a bowl, combine kefir, lemon juice and beet stock. Season with salt and adjust to taste.
Add Vegetables - mix in grated beets, cucumber, chopped eggs, green onions
Chill - refrigerate in the fridge until cold (at least 2 hours).
Serve - pour into bowls and garnish with ½ sliced egg with a generous dollop of sour cream and dill. Enjoy.