It is quite easy to switch from your usual diet to a new “meat-free” food system, but giving up your taste preferences can sometimes be very difficult, and sometimes completely impossible. This does not apply to some exotic food with unusual products or combinations of flavors, but to such everyday dishes as, for example, borscht.
There is an opinion that it should be prepared exclusively from meat. But, in addition to the standard recipe with meat filling, there is also an unusual option for those who eat exclusively plant foods - vegetarian borscht. It is also tasty, and does not require complex cooking technology. We invite you to get acquainted with several of the best recipes for the iconic soup, but in an original vegetarian style.
Classic recipe
30 minutes
Grate the beets and carrots on a coarse grater or cut into strips.
Chop the onion and pepper into small pieces, and the potatoes into medium cubes.
Finely chop the cabbage.
Saute the beets in a frying pan with heated vegetable oil. Add onions and carrots and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add bell peppers, tomatoes or tomato paste. Stir and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Add salt, lemon juice and sugar to the roast.
Place potatoes into boiling water. Cook for 15 minutes.
Place the cabbage in the pan, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Pour the contents of the frying pan into the pan, stir and leave to simmer under the lid for another 15 minutes over very low heat. Salt and pepper.
Let's taste the salt and invite you to fresh vegetarian borscht! Serve sour cream, herbs and garlic separately.
Grocery list
Number of servings – 4.
Ingredients for the miracle dish:
- Potatoes – 2 medium;
- Carrot – 1 small;
- Beets – 1 small;
- White onion - an onion (not onion, but white);
- Bell pepper – 1 pc.;
- White cabbage - one neat small head;
- Tomato paste – 2 tbsp;
- Lemon - half;
- Bay leaf;
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp;
- Fresh herbs - a bunch;
- Prunes – 1 tbsp;
- Beans – 2 tbsp;
- Garlic – 3 cloves;
- Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp;
- Spices to taste.
The cooking process is a little magical. You need to cook it in a good mood, then the dish will not only be healthy, but even truly healing!
Step-by-step recipe - preparation
Vegetarian borscht has minimal calorie content, so you can safely eat it for lunch without worrying about your silhouette and slimness. It is nourishing, rich and thick, and is absolutely not inferior in taste to meat first courses.
First courses are often cooked in a slow cooker, but we will “create” in the traditional way, in a saucepan. It’s both tastier and more interesting!
1. Wash the beans, pour them into a saucepan, fill them with cold water and place them on the stove. Sprinkle some salt. Let it begin to cook while we take care of the vegetables.
2. First we clean and wash all our vegetables, place them on a large towel to dry.
3. Cut the potatoes into fairly small cubes - large pieces look unsightly and are not very tasty. The cubes should be approximately 2 cm long and wide. Place in a bowl and fill with cold water to prevent the potato cubes from darkening.
4. Finely chop the onion and place it in a bowl for now.
5. Do not press the garlic in a crusher, but cut it finely with a knife.
6. Cut the greens smaller.
7. Cut the bell pepper into small strips, about the size of a little finger.
8. Cut the beets into the same neat, beautiful strips.
9. Carrots are the only vegetable that we grate. And even then, on the largest one.
10. Shred the cabbage finely, but not too much.
11. Cut the prunes - each prune into 4 parts.
So, the beans are cooked, the vegetables are ready, it’s time to start the main part.
Preparing the roast
Even though our dish is dietary, light frying is a must. This borscht with beans, prunes and fried vegetables will be incredibly thick, aromatic and satisfying!
- Place the frying pan over medium heat;
- We check in passing how our beans are doing - they should be half-ready, firm, but no longer raw.
- Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan, throw in two bay leaves, and add a teaspoon of mustard seeds. Fry for 2 minutes until it starts to pop and jump.
- Add the onion and carrots and fry, stirring vigorously, for about 7 minutes.
- Add beets and bell peppers, a little salt, and stir constantly. The fire can be made stronger so that the process goes on with all its might.
- Add tomato paste and mix very well.
- Adding your favorite spices is the most creative process. A little bit of everything – ground black and red pepper, turmeric, rosemary, cardamom. Everything you love.
- Add prunes, squeeze out half a lemon (just so that the seeds don’t get in), fry all this splendor for another 4-5 minutes, then cover with a lid and remove from heat.
Final stage of preparation
Everything is almost ready - just a little magic left.
- Pour the potatoes into the pan, stir, and cover with a lid.
- After 10 minutes, pour the entire contents of the pan into the pan, mix well, and turn the heat to minimum.
- Pour in the cabbage.
- Turn the heat up to high and wait with the lid open until it boils.
- When it boils, turn off the gas, pour the greens on top, do not interfere. Cover with a lid.
In an hour, a magnificent vegetarian borscht with beans according to a unique recipe will be ready! It should be served in the classic way: with sour cream, black aromatic bread or donuts, in beautiful ceramic tureens.
Bon appetit!
Useful tips
- In order for vegetarian borscht to have a rich taste, you must use seasonings. And not only the usual pepper, bay leaf, onion and garlic, but also mustard.
- If you've never used mustard, I recommend giving it a try. This is done like this: I put the prepared mustard from the jar in a heated frying pan with a thick bottom along with a bay leaf. What does this give? When the mustard is heated, it releases a pleasant nutty aroma.
- The most popular seasonings for the most delicious borscht are curry, suneli hops, basil, and oregano. I also use vinegar and sugar as seasonings. They give the borscht interesting flavor tones.
- I confidently classify our vegetarian borscht as vegan. And, in order to completely feel like a true vegan, you can serve Indian bread – chapati – with the borscht.
- The main stage in preparing borscht is frying. Both the taste and attractiveness of borscht depend on it. Therefore, do not be afraid to add seasonings and spices to it, but you should not overdo it either, so as not to interrupt the taste of the vegetables.
Calorie content of vegetarian borscht
What is the approximate calorie content of borscht for a vegetarian? The number of calories depends directly on the recipe of the dish. You can see a detailed breakdown of the ingredients used in the classic version of the soup in the following table.
As you can see, it is not only tasty, rich in ingredients, but also low in calories. You can eat this borscht, have fun and not be afraid for your figure.
Vegetarian borscht with green peas
Want bright colors and new flavors in your vegetarian recipe? Prepare borscht with green peas. A long-familiar and familiar dish will sparkle in a new way and give a lot of pleasure. The new component will add unusual notes that you didn’t even know about. For the soup you need to prepare:
- Green peas - ½ jar.
- Cabbage - 1/3 fork.
- Onions – 1 piece.
- Potatoes – 5 pieces.
- Carrot – 1 piece.
- Beets – 2 pieces.
- Tomato paste – 1 – 2 tablespoons (to taste).
- Garlic – a couple of cloves.
- Spices, bay leaf - to taste.
Cooking:
- We clean all the root vegetables, wash them and cut them into arbitrary pieces. Place into a pan of boiling water. If you want the broth to be richer, do not reduce the heat after boiling.
- Fry the onion in vegetable oil in a frying pan for about 10 minutes. Next, we send the grated beets there. We complete the frying by adding tomato paste and garlic pressed through a garlic press. Fry for another 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When the root vegetables are almost ready, chop the cabbage and add it to the broth. Also, after a minute, throw in the finished frying. Stir and cook further.
- At the end of cooking, add green peas, salt and season with vegetarian borscht. In order for the dish to achieve maximum taste, it is advisable to let it brew for at least an hour.
- Serve to the table, garnished with aromatic herbs.
Borscht is a unique dish that almost every person likes. Give up super-calorie recipes with the addition of unhealthy foods and meat, try the option for vegetarians, which will definitely surprise you with its flavor and rich, rich taste.
Borscht diet
So, you have decided to stick to a borscht diet. Reviews from people who have already lost weight in this way indicate that the ideal duration of the borscht diet is one week.
- On Monday, eat borscht 3 times a day (but only before 18.00) and various fruits (the only exception is bananas).
- On Tuesday, combine borscht meals with any green vegetables (except green peas).
- On Wednesday you will also have to eat borscht, and between meals you can consume any fresh vegetables and fruits, only potatoes and bananas are excluded.
- On Thursday, add low-fat milk to this list of products. In summary: borscht + fruits + vegetables + milk - you definitely won’t go hungry!
- On Friday, continue to eat dietary borscht, which can be supplemented during the day with boiled beef and fresh tomatoes. All servings should be consumed in reasonable quantities - do not forget that you are on a diet.
- So, the borscht diet is entering its final phase, you should eat borscht for two more days. On Saturday, the main course of the diet is allowed to be supplemented with beef and fresh vegetables.
- On Sunday, combine meals with borscht with a second course of rice with vegetables. Drink fruit juices between meals.
The diet has come to an end. We hope that you have enough willpower and courage to hold out until the end of this diet, and that you have not fallen out of love with such a wonderful dish as borscht.
How to lose weight correctly for borscht lovers?
Borscht
Recent studies have finally convinced nutritionists that the process of weight loss is influenced not only by the energy value and the amount of food eaten.
It is important exactly when (at what time of day) certain dishes are consumed. In the morning, the body primarily needs carbohydrates for an active start to the day.
In order to move, feel energetic, and carry out physical and mental activity, you need to include porridge, dietary baked goods, sugar, nuts, and honey in your morning menu.
But at night, processes of regeneration and construction of new cells occur in the human body. The main material for this is protein. Unlike carbohydrates, which will definitely be stored in fat, proteins will become material for the body’s restoration work. That is why a healthy dinner should consist of lean fish, cottage cheese or eggs.
Borscht, which contains a fairly high amount of carbohydrates, is a dish suitable for the middle of the day. You shouldn't eat it at night.
There is one more point that a nutritionist will definitely note about the borscht diet. Like any vegetable dish that is subjected to heat treatment, borscht loses its vitamins and minerals. The longer a dish is stored, the less substances beneficial to the body remain in it. In addition, during storage the taste of the dish deteriorates significantly. It is better not to cook a pot of borscht for three days.
Notes
- After heat treatment, the fiber found in vegetables loses its aggressive properties and turns into a soft, gentle sorbent for the intestines and its flora.
- The soup is quickly absorbed and does not linger in the body, removing various toxins, heavy metals, nitrites, nitrates, radionuclides, and other harmful substances.
- A serving of classic borscht contains all the chemical elements necessary for a person in ideal proportions.
- Spices and seasonings stimulate the functioning of the kidneys, liver and the entire digestive system, which helps to activate the natural processes of cleansing the body.
- Vegetarian borscht is a low-calorie food.
- Potatoes contain a lot of potassium, which helps remove excess water from the body.
- Cabbage can remove excess cholesterol, dissolve gallstones and improve the functioning of the heart muscle.
- Beets contain substances that prevent the formation of benign and malignant tumors.
- Carrots remove sand and small stones from the kidneys, have mild diuretic and choleretic properties, improve vision and normal heart function.
- Onions have antimicrobial properties and improve the functioning of the gastric tract by stimulating the production of gastric juice.
- Tomatoes effectively fight aging of the body and strengthen the immune system.
How to cook borscht without frying?
Cooking in a slow cooker
Contrary to popular belief, cooking borscht in a slow cooker is not that fast.
To do this you will need:
- onion;
- carrot;
- beet;
- cabbage;
- potato;
- fresh tomatoes;
- garlic;
- lemon juice;
- spices, salt, pepper, oil.
The exact quantity of products is calculated based on the capacity of the appliance bowl. The chopped ingredients should fill half or 2/3 of the volume (depending on the preferred thickness of the first dish).
Preparation:
- You need to start cooking with dressing. Therefore, set the “Baking” mode, melt the butter and place the chopped onion and grated carrots in the multicooker bowl.
- The vegetables take a few minutes to cook.
- Without wasting time, grate the beets. Separate one handful and leave it in a separate container, pour it with lemon juice. Place the rest in the multicooker, close it and set the “Stew” program. The mixture will cook for the next 40 minutes.
- While the housewife's assistant is stewing some of the ingredients, we chop the cabbage and chop the potatoes. At the end of the “Quenching” program, add them to the container and pour water. Also don't forget to add seasonings. Now we set the “Porridge” program. The dish will cook for another quarter of an hour.
- Peel the tomatoes, cut them and mix them with the remaining handful of beets. As soon as the borscht is cooked, open the lid and add this mixture. After closing the multicooker, let the dish sit for half an hour.
A few words about the dish
Borscht is a traditional Ukrainian vegetable soup made from beets. The recipe for vegetarian borscht with beets is practically no different from the classic one, except that instead of meat broth, plain water and vegetable oil are used for frying vegetables.
At the same time, it is important to know that the beets used in borscht are the red, salad varieties, and not the pink variety, as ignorant people sometimes do. It is the bright color of this healthy root vegetable that gives the rich hue to borscht, which many foreigners call “Ukrainian red soup.”
What to eat in the evening to lose weight
Most diets require you to stop eating after six. Some of them recommend eating in the evening about 3.5 hours before bedtime. During this time, the food has time to be digested. The latter option is more reasonable, because each person has his own individual schedule that he adheres to. In order not to starve, subsequently overeat in the evening and not gain weight, you should know what you can eat at night when losing weight.
It is very important to follow a proper diet and avoid late dinners. You need to stop eating unhealthy and fatty foods at night, eliminate foods high in sugar, refined grains, and saturated fats. They are high in calories and help you gain weight.
The evening menu for someone losing weight should consist of vegetables, fruits, and proteins. You should eat more calories during the day, especially in the morning, and only have a snack in the evening to satisfy your hunger.
They are high in calories and help you gain weight. The evening menu for someone losing weight should consist of vegetables, fruits, and proteins. You should eat more calories throughout the day, especially in the morning, and only have a snack in the evening to satisfy your hunger.
