WHAT IS EATING MY BEET LEAVES RECIPES

Steps:

• Place dry mushrooms in a bowl and cover them with hot boiling water. Let them soak for 5 minutes.
• Peel, wash and cut into chunks, your vegetables (carrots, parsnip, celery root, leeks, and parsley);
• Place your vegetables and soaked mushrooms* (see notes below) in the large pot, cover with 10 cups of water, add a tablespoon of salt, bay leaves, and allspice and boil for about 30 minutes, uncovered;
• Prepare beets - peel them and slice in 1/2 inch slices; peel your garlic and slice the apple;
• Add beets, garlic, apple, and spices (salt, sugar, and marjoram) to the vegetable broth. At this time add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of lemon to preserve the beautiful color from the beets. Cook it for another half hour, uncovered;
• Add the remaining vinegar, and adjust seasoning with vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper, as needed.
• Discard all the vegetables and use a strainer to pour your borscht either into mugs to drink or to bowls to be served with mushroom pierogi.

Steps:

• Rinse the sauerkraut under the running water. Squeeze excess water and chop it.
• Place sauerkraut in a pot with water. Water should come to a level where contents are submerged.
• Add bay leaves and allspice.
• Cook on low heat for about 40-60 minutes until the sauerkraut is soft.
• If water evaporates, you may need to add hot boiling water a few times during the process.
• In the meantime, place dried mushrooms in a pot with water. Let them stand for half an hour.
• Cook the mushrooms in the same water they were soaking in for another half an hour, adding a little bit of salt.
• In a frying pan, heat up the olive oil. Add onions and cook for approximately 5 minutes until they are golden brown.
• When the mushrooms are cooked, remove them with the slotted spoon and add to the sauerkraut.
• Using a cheesecloth (or thin strainer) and ladle, pour one ladle of the mushroom water at the time over the sauerkraut (you may want to add 1-3 ladles to the sauerkraut depending on how much liquid has evaporated)
• Cook for about 10 more minutes to reduce some of the liquid (the dish should be wet but not soaking in water).
• Add onions and sugar to the pot and stir to combine.
• Discard bay leaves.
• Add salt and pepper for taste.
• Optionally you can add a tablespoon or 2 of butter and mix it well.
• Garnish with parsley and serve as a side dish.