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Chłodnik litewski
Chilled beet leaf soup
Chłodnik litewski: chilled pink soup of young beet leaves, cucumber and kefir with dill and egg, from north-east Poland
In Podlasie and the lake country of north-east Poland, chłodnik is the soup of hot June and July days, when young beets are pulled with their leaves still tender. The beet greens and baby beets are cooked briefly, chilled, then stirred into kefir with cucumber, radish, spring onion and lots of dill, so the soup turns shocking pink, tangy and cold. It is served as a starter or a light lunch with half a hard-boiled egg in each bowl. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 170 kcal and 13 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is mixing the kefir into warm beets, which makes it split and dulls the colour, so chill them completely first. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lemon to the cooking beets; the acid keeps the colour a vivid pink instead of brownish.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 young beetroots with their leaves (botwinka)bunch (about 500 g): beets peeled and grated, leaves and stalks sliced
- 1 ¾ cups water
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 ¼ cups kefirwell chilled
- 1 cucumberdiced small
- 6 radishesthinly sliced
- 3 spring onionssliced
- ⅔ oz fresh dillchopped
- 1 clove garliccrushed
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 4 eggs
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put the grated 1 young beetroots with their leaves (botwinka) in a pan with 1 ¾ cups water and 2 tbsp lemon juice, cover and simmer for 6 minutes. Add the sliced leaves and stalks and cook 3 minutes more, until the stalks are tender.
9 minStep 2: Tip into a large bowl and chill for at least 1 hour, or set the bowl in iced water, until completely cold.
5 minStep 3: Meanwhile put the 4 eggs in a pan of boiling water and cook for 10 minutes until the yolks are firm. Cool in cold water, peel and halve.
10 minStep 4: Stir 3 ¼ cups kefir into the cold beets, then add 1 cucumber, 6 radishes, 3 spring onions, ⅔ oz fresh dill and 1 clove garlic. Season with ¾ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper; it should taste fresh and sour.
3 minStep 5: Ladle into chilled bowls and put two egg halves in each.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 170 kcal
- Protein
- 12 g
- Carbs
- 13 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does chłodnik litewski take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of lemon juice?
- Lime juice, same amount.
- What can I use instead of cucumber?
- Courgette, same weight (in salads, use young ones).
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