Cold Borscht

Name: Cold Borscht
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Jewish
Ingredients: Beetroot; Water; White vinegar; Caster sugar; Salt; Fat-free Greek yoghurt; Fresh dill; Cucumber

86 kcal a serving, against 129 for the traditional version. That is 43 kcal off, or 33%, with 5.5g of protein. Serves 4. 1 hour plus chilling.

What the traditional version is

Classic cold borscht starts with fresh beetroot boiled till tender, then grated and added to a broth seasoned with vinegar, salt and a hint of sugar. Once chilled, the soup is poured into bowls and topped generously with full-fat sour cream, which melts in and turns the whole thing Barbie pink. Chopped dill and diced cucumber sometimes make an appearance for crunch.

What changed, and what each change costs

Full-fat sour cream swapped for fat-free Greek yoghurt

This is where all the heaviness lives. Greek yoghurt is thicker than standard yoghurt and doesn't split in the cold soup, so it keeps the soup from turning watery. The tang is there, but the slow dairy finish is gone. What you gain is the ability to eat a vast quantity and still stand up afterwards, plus a slight bump in protein.

What it costs you. You miss the creaminess on the lips and tongue. Yoghurt is sharper and lighter. It's not a butterfat hit, it's a tart swirl. The soup looks nearly the same and feels different by the time you are two spoonfuls in.

Sugar reduced by half

With less fat to balance the sweetness, too much sugar makes the whole thing taste like pudding. Cutting the sugar down lets the beetroot keep its earthy edge.

What it costs you. It's just less sweet. If you want the classic sugar hit, no need to apologise: add the extra spoon for yourself.

Optional cucumber increased for more crunch, dill increased for punch

Dropping the fat means you lose richness, so I make the herbs and veg work harder. It does the job of waking your mouth up a bit.

What it costs you. More freshness, less velvet. Not much of a loss unless you're married to tradition.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Beetroot
Water
White vinegar
Caster sugar
Salt
Fat-free Greek yoghurt
Fresh dill
Cucumber

How it starts

Scrub the beetroot and put it whole (unpeeled) in a pot with the water.
Slip the skins off the beetroot (they come away with a rub), then grate it coarsely.
Return the grated beetroot to the pan with its cooking water.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Jewish.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	129	86
Protein	3g	5.5g
Fat	6.1g	0.4g
Saturated fat	3.1g	0.1g
Carbohydrate	16.9g	16g
Protein per 100 kcal	2.3g	6.4g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Jewish prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. milk, sulphites.

The method is in the book

The original is silkier and feels like a treat. There's no way round that. The Greek yoghurt trick does the job, but you know at once it isn't the real deal. Still, if it's 30 degrees outside, you want cold, light, and sharp, not a dairy duvet. This version gets you halfway to tradition, and you can eat two bowls and keep your buttons done up. If you miss the cream, just use it and call it self-care.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Jewish, along with 51 more. Buy the paperback