Beet soup

James and I are not a beet-loving people. When we get beets in our farm box we do a bit of head-scratching to figure out what we can do with them that we will like. Last year we found several recipes that satisfied. Earlier this year I spotted a recipe in my Dishing Up Maryland cookbook that had me salivating for beets - Sweet and Savory Beet Soup with Orange Juice and Yogurt. Just the name of the dish had me anticipating the beets we were sure to get in our farm box. I could just see the beautiful red color, and taste the tangy-ness. But we never got beets. I waited all season, and finally this week my patience paid off. There they were - beets. But wait, those aren't red. Is there such a thing as white beets? Yes, there are. And I used them to make this simple soup.

I began with the three beets. I removed the leaves, and cleaned them, and put them in a soup pot with 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock, 1 cup of orange juice, one diced onion and a bit of garlic salt and pepper. Everything was brought to a boil, then simmered for an hour so the beets could cook. After about an hour I removed the beets, and took the skin off them, then cut them up and placed in a blender and poured in the rest of the ingredients to puree. I divided the soup into two bowls and added a dollop of yogurt. This was really tangy. Even more so than we expected. It was served with a green salad (made also with ingredients from the farm box) and home made biscuits. A lovely fall meal.