Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves: 3 - 5
Description[]
Beets are a wonderful healthy food, because they aren't only healthy--they taste great, add sweetness without fattening sugar, and look pretty. Add some healthy dill creme made from nonfat Greek yogurt, and you have a cold soup that tastes like a guilty pleasure, but actually keeps you trim and healthy.
Beets and greek yogurt are two of the most healthy, and good-tasting foods in the world--even if we're comparing them to full-fat options. Personally, I find the difference between nonfat greek yogurt and full-fat greek yogurt is nonexistant, especially when tasty ingredients like dill and lemon juice are added. Sour cream basically has no nutritional value, so substituting it with Greek yogurt is best - you get a great boost of healthful, lean protein while still providing the tang that sour cream normally departs.
To add more flavor to this soup, I added roasted garlic and caramelized onions--two healthy, no-guilt-attached foods that carry as much flavor and punch as the most fattening (and delicious) options.
Ingredients[]
- 3 large beets (or 4 - 5 smaller/medium ones)
- 1 cup of unsalted/low sodium chicken stock
- 1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt
- several sprigs of dill
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 large onion
- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil
Directions[]
- Peel the beets and put them in a small package of aluminum foil, along with six cloves of garlic, unpeeled. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper as you see fit. Cook at 400 degrees until the beets are soft and can be easily penetrated with a knife (usually forty minutes or so, perhaps slightly more depending on placement and size of beets)
- About thirty minutes after placing beets in the oven, chop the onion in small pieces. Caremalize the onion in a small skillet, cooking on low heat for about twenty minutes.
- When the beets are soft, remove from the oven. Peel the cloves of garlic (they will be very soft and aromatic, which is good). Add the beets, any juices left over, and the garlic, to a food processor. Mix in the caramelized onions. Add the chicken stock and cayenne pepper. Feel free to add more salt and pepper as you see fit.
- Refrigerate the mixture.
- Chop the dill into small pieces after washing, and mix in a food processor with the greek yogurt and lemon juice. Refrigerate that as well.
- When both mixtures are cold, serve. Top the beet soup with a dollop of the dill cream.