Steemit Iron Chef 2017 #03 : Beetroot cold soup

Summer is over, but I haven't fully let go, yet. The soup I was making today is perfect for hot days, so when I saw that today was sunny, it was good enough for me. The last cold soup this year! Not a lot of people in my country make this dish in winter, because it gets really cold and cold food is the last thing anybody needs in that situation. But it is a hit in summer, my mom makes it, my neighbor makes it, and that annoying grandma that thinks all the kids are little devils makes it, too.

In Latvia we call this dish ''Aukstā zupa'' which translates directly to ''Cold soup''. Cold soups are very popular in Latvia, but they are not limited to my country. They are really popular in Poland, too. I found that out when I lived in Canary Islands and my Polish friend recognized the dish immediately, but everybody else was so confused about the color.

It is a very light dish, that doesn't take much time to make, I took me around 40 minutes to finish, and I ended up with 6 portions.

I ruined my little ''proof'' tag with water right off the bat!

Ingredients

1 l buttermilk
350 g boiled beets
400 g potatoes
4 eggs
one long or two small cucumbers
salt and pepper

The buttermilk is red, because I added beet juice from the packaging into the pot

The first thing to do is to put the eggs and potatoes boiling.

Boil eggs until they are hard, so for around 10 minutes, and potatoes until they are soft, but don't let them come apart.

Potatoes are the thing that makes the preparing time for the dish 40 minutes long, otherwise it would take you 10 minutes to throw everything together. Latvians love their potatoes, so they are used in most foods.

Pour your buttermilk in a pot and add sliced cucumbers

When the eggs are boiled, cut them up and add into the same pot.

Now the beets, I grate them, because I don't like huge chunks of them in my food.

The beets make the food a little bit sweet, so I usually add extra pepper and salt, but it always depends on personal preference.

You will see the mixture turning pinker by every added beet!

And here is the end result. This is a very simple recipe for a refreshing summer soup. You can replace the buttermilk with Greek yogurt and add some water as it is thicker in consistence. There are also recipes out there without beets, but this is the only cold soup I am ever consuming. This is the third time I made it this year and it has our last garden cucumbers in it.

I didn't use any filters on the last picture just so it is visible how bright the food gets!

P.S. This is my second entry in the Iron chef contest, run by @steemit-ironchef and I am thinking of making a food post every Monday. I love cooking, especially cakes, I did a raw date/hazelnut cake, too today as it is my boyfriends birthday tomorrow and he loves them vegan dishes. :D

If you make it, I would love to see some of your pictures, in the end of the day, it is always hot someplace :D
Have the best day, an amazing week and a wonderful life,
Linda