Border Crossing Soup with Grilled Locomotive

Ingredients

• 2 medium red beets, peeled and diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled (reserve 1/2 for garnish)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
• 1/2 white cabbage, shredded
• 1 liter vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 eggplant, cut lengthwise into 4 slices
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tbsp sour cream
• 1 bunch dill, roughly chopped

Method

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a soup pot. Sauté onion and garlic for 3 minutes.
2. Add beet, carrot (except the half for garnish), potato, and cabbage. Cook for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in tomato paste. Add stock, bay leaf, vinegar, and sugar. Bring to a boil.
4. Simmer for 30 minutes until vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Heat a grill pan. Brush eggplant slices and carrot half (cut into thick slices) with olive oil and grill until charred.
6. Remove bay leaf from soup. Puree half the soup roughly with a stick blender, leave the rest chunky.
7. Ladle soup into deep bowls. Lay an eggplant slice diagonally as the locomotive, followed by 2-3 carrot slices as wagons, in a row across the soup.
8. Garnish with sour cream and dill.

Serving notes

• Serve with hearty rye bread.
• Let guests add their own sour cream and dill for extra suspense.