Last weekend was mostly about food - reading, googling, grocery shopping and - in fact - cooking. When preparing for a dinner party if anyone becomes concerned that it would be too much work for one person to prepare, what is the best way to say that it actually serves me personally as relaxation or meditation? Sometimes I get those moments though when I really want to cook something, but all those ideas I had when I was busy with something else are gone and it's like a blank piece of paper. I actually have a note book with me at all times, where I write down all ideas that come across - whether it is a whole dish or a part of it, maybe a combination of ingredients I have not tried before.
Now this combination was somewhat new in some sense. I had paired salmon and beets before, but in a different shape and form. Salmon and beets definitely make it to the top favorite ingredient list on my palette. Another huge advantage - it is healthy, tasty, filling and doesn't mess up the diet!
* 1 kg fresh beets
* 2 large carrots
* 4-5 medium sized potatoes
* 300-400 g minced salmon fillets
* 1-2 tablespoons flour
* 1 egg
* 1 litre fish stock
* Dried porcini mushrooms
* Olive oil
* Cardamom
* Dried chillies
* Salt'n'pepper
It is a much easier way to make the soup if using store bought boiled beets. I don't mind peeling and grating raw ones myself though. A few reasons - I do believe this way it maintains more of the nutritional benefits and another reason - the color is so much vibrant and rich!
Place a big pot on the stove. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil. In the meantime crush some dried porcini mushrooms (if they come in whole pieces). Add to oil. Add some salt and pepper. Crush seeds of a few cardamom pods. Give it a minute or so. Then add grated carrots. Fry for a few minutes and add grated potatoes. In a few minutes pour the fish stock and an equal amount of boiled water. Add dried chillies and let it boil for 20-25 minutes.
Add grated beets and give it another 15-20 minutes of simmering, until beets are cooked and don't have that earthy and moldy scent anymore.
While the soup is simmering, prepare salmon balls. Mix minced salmon with egg and flour, add salt'n'pepper to taste. Form balls and fry them in a pan in a bit of olive oil.
Prior to serving, remove chillies - I always count how many I add.
Serve soup with salmon balls on top. You may add a bit of creme fraiche to taste.
And my favorite part about beet soup - it is best reheated next day (stove top, not microwave)! :)
Bon appétit!
