Chilled Orange Honey Roasted Beet Soup

With bright pink charm, a beautiful tribute to a lovely spring day  

Recipe by: Gabrielle

SERVES: 4-6

Wine Pairing:  2014 Pietro Family Cellars Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley

PREP TIME: 25 minutes COOKING TIME: 40-50 minutes to roast beets TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 15 minutes + rest time of 3 hours or overnight

INGREDIENTS

• 3 medium red beets with stems and leaves
• 1½ Tbsp. all-purpose Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tsp. + 1 Tbsp. GC Napa Valley Natural Wild Fennel Finishing Sea Salt *
• 3 large organic eggs, hard-boiled
• 1 medium cucumber or English cucumber, peeled and deseeded, diced ¼”, need 1 cup + 1 cup
• 1 medium celery stalk, chopped, need ½ cup
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 4 green onions, need 3 Tbsp. white part chopped and 4 Tbsp. green tops finely chopped
• 2½ Tbsp. GC Napa Valley Natural Orange Infused Honey
• 1 tsp. GC Napa Valley Natural Tarragon Pink Peppercorns
• 1 cup + 3 cups plain Kefir (a tart cultured milk drink) or plain nonfat yogurt (not Greek)
• 1½ Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped (reserve 6 small sprigs for garnish)
• 3 Tbsp. GC Napa Valley Buttery Proprietary Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil **
• *Can substitute with GC Napa Valley Natural Lemon Finishing Sea Salt or GC Napa Valley Pink Himalayan Citrus Finishing Salt
• ** Can substitute with GC Napa Valley Natural Lemon Olive Oil

TO PREPARE

Roast beets

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove beet root. Remove beet stems with leaves and reserve for use in other recipes. Wash beets, peel using a vegetable peeler, cut into quarters and place in a bowl. Drizzle with all-purpose Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Mix until well coated. Season with 2 tsp. Wild Fennel Finishing Sea Salt. (Important Note: Finishing Salts are meant to be used as a final seasoning, but in this application, we found the Wild Fennel Finishing Sea Salt infused its stunning flavor into the beets as they were roasting.) Place beets on a baking sheet and put in oven. Turn beets once or twice during roasting. Check beets at 30 minutes and continue checking every 10 minutes until fork tender. Remove from oven to cool then dice into 1/8”- 1/4” pieces. 1 cup is needed for the soup. Use the rest for garnishing.

Hard boil eggs

1. Use your preferred method. Once cool, peel eggs and reserve.

Soup

1. In a blender add the following: 1 cup cucumber, celery, lemon juice, white part of green onions, 1 Tbsp. Fennel Finishing Sea Salt, Orange Infused Honey, Tarragon Pink Peppercorns, and 1 cup Kefir. Puree well. Pour pureed mixture into a large mixing bowl. Fold in the remaining 3 cups kefir, 1 cup beets, 1 cup cucumber, dill, and green onions tops. Refrigerate 3 hours or preferably overnight so the flavors integrate. Remove soup from refrigerator and gently stir before serving.

TO SERVE

SHOPPING LIST

• 3 medium red beets with stems and leaves
• 1 dozen whole organic eggs
• 1 medium cucumber or English cucumber
• 1 bunch celery
• 1 lemon, Eureka
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 bottle 32 fl. oz. plain Kefir or plain nonfat yogurt (not Greek)
• 1 small bunch fresh dill