A recipe for a healthy and delicious beetroot soup: vegetarian borscht

Here is one of my very favourite soups of all time. It's a vegetarian version of the famous Russian-Ukrainian beet soup, borscht. My version is delicious and heartwarming - brilliant for winter. Yet it's light and refreshing enough, so it would also be good during summer. I tend to use sauerkraut during winter and plain white cabbage during summer. 

Depending how good your knife-skills are, but it could be on your table in about 40 minutes or even less.

Vegetarian Borsch
(Lihata borš)
Serves 4 as a main course



500 gr beets/beetroot
150 gr onions (about 2 medium)
300 gr carrots (about 2 large)
400 gr white cabbage or finely grated mild sauerkraut
2 Tbsp olive oil
1,2 litres vegetable stock (I used Marigold Bouillon)
about 1/3 of a lemon
salt
coarsely ground black pepper

sour cream, to serve
finely chopped parsley, to garnish

Peel the beets, onions and carrots (put a small piece - about 50 grams - of beetroot aside for later). Cut all vegetables into thick matchsticks, shred the cabbage thinly.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add carrots, beets, onions and a pinch of salt and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring every now and then.
Add the shredded cabbage together with the hot stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer on a low heat for about 20-30 minutes, until vegetables are softened.
Grate the beetroot chunk finely, add to the soup (this helps to enliven the colour).
Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice, keeping in mind that borsch should have a slightly sour taste - so squeeze that lemon thoroughly :)
Serve with a dollop of sour cream (or omit, if you want a vegan soup) and sprinkle with some chopped parsley.

UPDATE 21.9.2007
Hedgehog made this soup, too - check out her post here.