Borscht

This recipe is called "chunky polish borscht" in my book, although I modified it a bit. It's just luck you can't have copyright on a recipe! I like this one because it's really thick and tasty, I find borscht is often way too thin. Anyways...

• oil
• 1 Large onion
• 2 Cloves garlic
• 5 Stalks celery, chopped pretty fine
• 3 Carrots, peeled and chopped into cubes
• 3 potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
• 4 beets, peeled and chopped into cubes (I used half pickled beets because I didn't have enough, it worked fine)
• 1/2 cabbage, shredded (~3 cups) (green looks nicer, but purple works too)
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal (or use 5 or 6, and use only the white part -- that's what I did)
• 3 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp chopped dill (I use freeze dried stuff, fresh would probably be better but is far less conveniant
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 cup cooked beans (white kidney/navy beans look best)
• Soy sour cream

Sautee onion, garlic, celery, carrots in oil for a couple minutes, until they start to get soft. Add potatoes and beets, cook for about 10 mins (don't let them brown).

Add 6 cups of water, simmer for about 15 minutes. Add cabbage, simmer for about 15 more minutes. Add everything else (except the sour cream), and either serve immediately or cook as long as you want (when company's coming, I prepare early and let it simmer while I prepare other stuff).

You can also leave the beans on the side and let people take what they want. Some people don't like the beans in the borscht.