Borscht (beetroot and apple soup.)

Many people will probably turn their noses up at this, but it's really great; it's earthy and reminiscent of communists living on the bread line!

Besides the aforementioned ridiculous reasons, this soup is fabulous for four fantastic reasons. The first being how comfortably it would sit underneath a glittering disco ball as the hot pink colour of it screams 'drag queen' and 'party.' The second is how good it is for you, beetroots are an alleged 'superfood' so they have all sorts of anti-oxidants in them which fend of colds and sadness. The third, it's very cheap! The fourth, it screams of effort, when really it is very, very simple to prepare, boiling and blending is as strenuous as it gets.

(The quantities all ball park.- this batch made enough for three greedy girls)

2 beetroots
1 potato
1 cooking apple
1 onion
1 pint of chicken stock
A squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper.

The beetroots should be peeled and boiled until they are soft. (the beetroots really ought to go in a separate pan because they create an unattractive grey scum.) They take about 30mins.

Meanwhile, the onions should be fried a little, until soft. Then, all of the ingredients need to brought together into a lovely bubbling vat of chicken stock and cooked until the potato and apples are soft, it should take about 20mins.
Then, blend everything together and season with salt/pepper and lemon juice!


Serve with a boiled egg, sliced on the top. It's seriously good.
Apparently, a good slug of vodka gives this soup a lovely clear taste, perfect for a party perhaps.. boozy soup. Can that really be a bad thing?
For a summer version, omit the potato and add fresh dill.