In the summer I often make a Nigella Lawson recipe: a gorgeous chilled beet soup. It is simple and stunning, just roasted beets, peeled and tossed in the blender with stock, sour cream, cumin, and fresh lime juice.
Yesterday I was trying to decide what to do with a batch of roasted beets. The idea of a nice beefy borscht had some appeal, but I didn't want to do more chopping. So instead I did something experimental that worked splendidly.
In the fridge I had a container full of leftover filling for stuffed peppers, made from a blend of ground beef and pork cooked together with onions, garlic, and a bunch of kale that I blitzed to smithereens in the food processor. (In my experience, kids (and many grownups) are more willing to eat leafy greens in tiny pieces.) When this was cooked, I tipped in a pile of leftover rice and tucked the mixture inside the last of the CSA peppers. I stashed the remaining filling inside the fridge, where, honestly, I forgot all about it.
Yesterday morning I rediscovered the container full of filling and thought to myself, "What if I heated up the soup that I usually serve chilled...WITH the leftover meat/rice/veggies?" My friends, it was fabulous-- meaty and satisfying and earthy and sweet, with the most gorgeous, soul-satisfying color.
So if you too like the idea of borscht but don't have the patience for the chopping (does anyone else get frustrated with the way that beets roll around unpredictably when you try to chop them, leaving fuchsia trails on your cutting board and perhaps your clothes?), consider this menu sequence instead: stuffed peppers (make extra filling) with beets roasted alongside them, followed a day or two later by blender beet soup, heated gently with the leftover filling.
I am going to eat another bowl of it for breakfast, feeling happy and frugal. It's like a matryoshka doll of leftover management: the leftover rice went into the leftover filling which went into the soup, which offers a treat for both the belly and the eyes.
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