Chłodnik - Polish Cold Yoghurt Beet Soup

This makes an unusual, violent pink soup that is beautiful and delicious. It's great for a lunch on early fall days, with the warm, buttered potatoes and the cool, colourful soup.

Serves 8

One bunch of young beets with leaves (about 6)
1 tsp lemon juice, to taste
1 garlic clove, minced
5 cups of boiling water
1 English cucumber, quartered and finely diced
about 10 radishes, halved and sliced
4 spring onion tops or chives, chopped
A small bunch of dill, minced
4 cups natural yogurt or cultured buttermilk
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
golden caster sugar to taste - optional
4 to 6 hard boiled eggs to serve
1 to 1½ kg cooked baby potatoes to serve
1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter for potatoes

1. Wash beet leaves, stems and roots. Peel roots and dice them, chop leaves and stems (if there are lots of leaves use only half).
2. Boil water, add beet material along with garlic and lemon juice. Cook covered until beets are soft but still crunchy.
3. Remove from heat, add cucumber, radishes, half of the dill (reserve the rest to sprinkle over potatoes), spring onions and set aside to cool down a bit. Add yogurt (or buttermilk), season to taste with salt, pepper (and sugar if using, but good young beets should be plenty sweet already) and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
4. Serve chilled with freshly cooked baby potatoes topped with butter and dill and hard boiled eggs on the side.
5. Add more boiled water if the soup is too thick or too intense in flavour.
6. If you have too many beetroot leaves, wash and chop them and freeze to use later in different soups.