Water, herbs and eggs: The recipe for a healthy, quick summer dish

Sorrel soup is one of the most popular summer dishes in Russia. It is light, fresh and low in calories. It’s also possible to grow everything needed to make it at the dacha, the traditional Russian country house where city-dwellers try to spend as much time as possible in the summer. The only absolutely necessary ingredients are sorrel, potatoes and herbs. The eggs and sour cream that traditionally accompany sorrel soup are also best bought in the countryside.

Young sorrel leaves contain large amounts of various different vitamins, including vitamin C, which helps to strengthen the immune system.

This soup, sometimes referred to as “green shchi” after the traditional Russian cabbage soup, can be easily adapted. It can be made into a kind of “green borscht” by making a stock from juicy lamb ribs and adding meat to the soup. Beating the eggs in the soup itself rather than a separate bowl produces a kind of “green egg-drop soup” with tasty “threads” of egg. But a simple water-based soup is often the best thing in hot weather. It tastes equally good hot or cold. Sorrel soup is also very quick to make — it takes only 15-20 minutes. Give it a try! Source: Daria Sokolova

How to make it:

1. Peel and dice the onion, then fry it in a pan with a drop of oil and a small amount of water. Heat up a saucepan filled with water.

Source: Daria Sokolova

2. Slice the potatoes while the water is heating up. There is no need to peel them if you are using new potatoes – they have such a fine, tasty skin.

Source: Daria Sokolova

3. Add salt and pepper to the boiling water according to taste, then add the potatoes. After 5-7 minutes, add the fried onion.

4. Boil the eggs in a separate pan.

5. Wash the sorrel and dice it into rough pieces. It is a good idea to place the leaves in boiling water to keep them from becoming bitter.

6. When the potatoes are ready, place the sorrel in the same saucepan as the potatoes and onion. Add some garlic, along with any other green herbs or vegetables you fancy – anything that you can find in a kitchen garden. Bring it all to a  boil, then remove from the heat.

7. Place half a boiled egg in each bowl. Pour the soup into the bowls. Top with sour cream.

Source: Daria Sokolova

Bon appetit!

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