Raw Vegan Borscht

I am going to start off by saying that this is one recipe I have tried over and over again, and until recently I have not been able to perfect it. That is no longer the story anymore! This recipe is tried and tested, and truly tastes like the real thing. It is low fat, vegan, and 100% guilt-free! You can eat as much as you please, all the while nourishing your blood cells with the fabulous beets which truly help to filter and cleanse the circulatory system. My Ukrainian roots had me on a strong up-bringing of borscht at least every second weekend. I am so glad I am able to share this amazing recipe with you all!

Equipment: •Juicer (or a blender, and some kind of filter bag to strain pulp like a nut mylk bag)

•Dehydrator (or just a really sunny area or extremely low-temp on stove-top)

Ingredients:

- 5 large beets (stems included)

- 1/4 small onion, diced

- 3/4 cup shredded cabbage

- 1 large shredded carrot

- 2 celery stalks, chopped finely

- Juice of 2 lemons

- Pinch of freshly ground pepper

- 1/2 tsp fresh thyme (or dried)

- 7 allspice cloves

- 1/2 tsp allspice powder

- 1/4 cup chopped dill

- 2 small cloves garlic

- 1/4 tsp dried corriander

- 4 bay leaves

- 1.5 cups water

Instructions:

1. Peel the beets, and juice 4 of them. Juice about 5 of the stalks (this will add saltiness to the soup)

2. Put the juice of the beets, and about 3/4 of the pulp into a large bowl. Take the 5th beet and make fine shreds with a grater. Add these shreds into the bowl.

3. Next, add everything listed above, into the bowl. (quite simple hey?)

4. When it comes to adding the water, you may want to add a little bit more to cover the vegetables, or a little less if you think 1.5 cups of water would be too much. You may also want to add a little more lemon or allspice, depending on your taste. If you eat salt, you can also add some salt to this.

5. Now you can put your soup into large mason jars, and let them sit overnight to let the flavours blend, or you can directly heat up your soup in the dehydrator for a couple hours to make it warm. Or you can put it on the stove-top, and warm it just enough until it is slightly heated through (you can do the finger test, don't let it heat up to the point where your finger cannot comfortably sit in the soup for 30 seconds)

6. Bon Appetit!