Recipe - Vegan Borscht

To start with you will need

• 4 beetroot (now, you could get fresh beetroot from an old-fashioned greengrocers shop, plucked from the fertile loam that very morn, with a couple of leaves and some bits of soil still clinging to the roots, or you might find the ones you get in supermarkets, already cooked and vacuum sealed, which keep for months. it's your choice)
• half a small cabbage
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 very small carrot
• 1 large onion
• 1 red pepper

these are supposed to be grated but life's short enough so maybe you'd prefer to just chop up really small? fry the above briefly with

• a little olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• some ground black pepper

then add

• stock, made from 2 vegetable oxo cubes and about 500ml of water
• a small amount of salt - remember: it's a killer
• 2 tsp of fair-trade, unrefined sugar
• some fresh dill, or more likely most of a 5g sachet of dried dill. don't chuck the whole lot in - save some to sprinkle on top of the finished product "so sophisticated"

while thats simmering, wash and chop up a few potatoes and boil them to make mash. when the mash is ready teast the soup - does it look okay? put in

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

and stir it round. I blended it with my new Braun Multiquick advantage 4050 HC (thanks Mum). serve in large bowls with a dollop of mashed potatoes in the middle. the eaters can stir in the mash to make the soup look creamy.