Being of Ukrainian descent, I spell  борщ as borshch in English. Ain’t no “t” in Ukrainian borshch.

So what’s in my borshch?

It varies by what’s in the fridge, and I have no fixed recipes or quantities or proportions of ingredients. Whatever looks good. But I do make it on the filling side, almost like a vegetable stew, though I never add a thickener like flour.

I am proud of my hearty peasant borshch. It’s nearly a meal in itself, not like that pale pink, liquid-only stuff served at some hoity-toity Ukrainian events.

You know, the stuff that looks likes someone wiped an empty borshch pot with a wet dishrag, then wrung out the dishrag into a small bowl or cup, and served it to you : -).

Today’s borshch began with a tablespoon of beef bullion in a fairly large pot of water. A big onion, diced. Two large beets sliced and diced. A couple of chopped carrots. About a quarter of a small green cabbage, shredded.

Something that was a bit different this time was a handful of sliced shitake mushrooms, which add a distinctive, but not overpowering flavour.

And I usually add some sort of canned or fresh beans or peas to give the soup more heft. Today I tossed in a can of chick peas, rinsing them first.

It was very good, and healthy, too!