Red borscht (lenten version)

Boil the beans. If you are afraid to overcook, cook until tender and remove from the broth, then add borscht at the end of cooking. I usually boil until half cooked and cook with other vegetables.

On a small amount of oil, we make frying of onions, carrots and beets. Along the way, you can add a spoonful of decoction from the pan. The fire is small, do not forget to stir the frying. When the vegetables become soft, add sugar, salt, paprika, vinegar. Stir and turn off the heat.

When the beans have become relatively soft, we send one whole potato to it. Ten minutes later, add salt, peppercorns, parsley, chopped potatoes. After 7-8 min. add shredded cabbage. We take out the whole potato, mash it with a fork and send it to the pan (this trick allows you to make borscht especially rich and tasty).

We cook borscht until the moment when you are satisfied with the degree of softness of the cabbage (some people like it to be crunchy, others prefer soft - we take into account the fact that the cabbage, even in the borscht already removed from the stove, will be cooked for some time). We introduce frying, let it boil (boil for just a minute), remove the pan from the stove. We let it brew under the lid for at least 30-40 minutes.

Serve borscht with herbs and garlic. You can also add a bit of lean mayonnaise (this is all optional).