beet and cabbage soup, aka borscht

The original recipe is pulled from Epicurious, but I've modified it for a few reasons: I read the reviews carefully and agreed with a lot of what I read based on my own borscht experience; I knew I wouldn't use the rest of the cabbage later in the week; and I experienced the Great Beet Disaster of 2010 somewhere mid-recipe. There's nothing quite like the hot pink carnage of beets on the white tiles of your black/white kitchen floor...

Ingredients:

• 3–5 tablespoons (TB) olive oil (more or less...i add until it looks appropriate, so i probably hit closer to 5TB)
  
• 3/4 pound russet potato, chopped: this equaled one 3/4 pound potato for me
  
• 1 small to medium head of cabbage, chopped (peel off the outer layers where it's been exposed to nasty in the store, and don't use the core)
  
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 8 cups (or more) vegetable or beef broth: I keep Better than Bouillon in my cabinet for just such an occasion
  
• 6 2-inch-diameter beets, peeled, chopped: Or 3, if you splatter half of your goods all over your kitchen
  
• 2 TB tomato paste, if desired: I skipped this, and it did not suffer
  

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• Low-fat sour cream: vegan or original
  
• Chopped fresh dill, or dried dill if that's what you have and you're tired of buying stuff

Directions:
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.
Add potatoes, cabbage and onion and sauté until cabbage softens, about 5–10 minutes.
Add 8 cups broth, beets and tomato paste (if you're using it).
Bring soup to boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes to an hour.

Add lemon juice; season with salt and pepper.

Top with spoonful of sour cream; sprinkle with dill (makes it yummy!)

PS. Borscht rocks for good healthy stuff. See here for beet information and here for cabbage information.