Cold Beet Apple & Leek Soup

By: Tamara Saslove, P.H.Ec.

With the warm summer weather, a bowl of piping hot soup doesn’t always sounds too appetizing. But fear not, there are tons of cold soup options including this delicious and simple beauty of a soup! Beets, apples and leeks join together in this recipe to offer an alternative to a classic Beet Borscht.. with a lighter flavour that everyone will enjoy.
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One common mistake I find myself running into whenever I make a cold soup is that I often leave it until the last minute.. or the last couple hours and it doesn’t have enough time to fully cool. You can make this soup a day in advance, or the morning / early afternoon of when you plan to eat it in order to give yourself enough time and ensure you are serving up this soup how it is intended.. COLD!

Yield: approx. 2L
6 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 beets (1 tsp olive oil for roasting)
• 3 leeks (white part only)
•1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
• 2 granny smith apples, peeled
•1 L vegetable or chicken stock salt and pepper, to taste

Garnishes optional: sunflower seeds, plain greek yogurt


Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
   
2. Chop off beet greens, and wash and dry beets. Place in aluminium foil and drizzle 1 tsp. olive oil and a little salt and pepper on top and wrap them up in the tin foil. Roast beets in oven for about 1 hour or until cooked through. To check if they are cooked through, poke a sharp knife through the flesh and if it goes through with ease they are finished.
3. Chop leeks and place in a large bowl of water to rinse, drain and set aside.
4. Once beets are finished cooking, let cool and then peel the skin off and chop up.
   
5.  Peel and chop apples into small pieces.
6. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a medium stock pot over medium heat, add leeks and sauté until softened and aromatic, stirring frequently.
   
7. Add in the apples and beets and 1 L stock, bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes.
8. In 2 batches, blend the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth and pour in 2 separate containers to let cool.
9. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as needed. After about 30 minutes of cooling on the counter, place in fridge for about 3-4 hours.
   
10. To speed up the cooling process, the soup can be further divided into another 2 containers.