Borshch is originally a Ukrainian dish, adopted by the Russians, so much so that it is now known as a Russian soup as well (to the Ukrainians’ indignation). The veggie-only version I will tell you about is tasty, healthy, and amazingly filling, despite the fact that there is no meat in it. Attention beet-haters: this soup does not taste like beets. Honestly! Give it a try, and you will see for yourself.

Cooking borshch may seem a little bit complicated, but it is really not that hard, especially when you have learned the process and know exactly what you are doing. You will need:

A large pan (I usually use a 6 quarts one; it makes quite a lot of soup, but borshch keeps very well refrigerated)

A frying pan

2-3 potatoes

1 cabbage (medium size)

4-5 carrots

2-3 tomatoes

1 onion (medium size)

1 large beet (the size of a tennis ball or larger, or 2 smaller ones)

Vegetable oil (I use sunflower oil, but regular vegetable oil works fine, too)

Salt

Vinegar

Garlic powder (or 2-3 garlic cloves)

Step 1. You begin by pouring the large pan a little over half-full of water and putting it on the stove, on very low heat. Then you peel the potatoes, dice them, and throw them into the pan. Note: potatoes are the only ingredient you do not pre-fry, they go into the pan raw.

Step 2. The next step is cabbage. Pour some vegetable oil into the frying pan – not much, just enough to make sure the veggies won’t burn. Chop up the cabbage, not too finely; the pieces should be larger than those normally used for cole slaw. Put the chopped cabbage into the frying pan and pre-fry it a little, stirring occasionally. Add some salt in the process. When you see that the cabbage has softened, dump it into the large pan. Note: you only need one frying pan full of cabbage, so you might not use the whole head.