beet and fennel soup - meatless monday, valentine's day

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day yesterday! As I said before, Kev and I decided to stay in for the night. We had a delicious home-cooked meal with some of our favorite ingredients (wine, manchego cheese, beets, homemade pasta, hand made pesto, and caramel), then watched a classic love movie, Sleepless in Seattle. It was a great night that was very relaxed and a lot fun.

A couple of days ago, I was flipping through some old Bon Appetit magazines and came across the recipe for this beet soup... a hot pink soup with white hearts, yes! I'm in. Also, we happen to love beets around here, especially in this salad, and we love fennel too, so I knew I had to try it out. I whipped up the soup in a flash, it's pretty easy, though it did leave me with beet stained hot pink hands for a few hours. We enjoyed every last drop of our servings and I can't wait to ladle me some more for lunch today!

I thought about waiting on this post, for next year even, since Valentine's Day is past, but I decided that it is certainly never ever to late to tell someone you love them, and more, who says you can only make hot pink soup with white hearts on Valentine's Day?!? So why not throw this soup together today or some day in the future and surprise and impress the one you love when they least expect it. I hope you enjoy!

beet and fennel soup

adapted from Bon Appetit, January 2011

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped fennel bulb

1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds

2 large or 3 medium beets, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 cups water

1 cup low-fat greek yogurt

salt and pepper, to taste

Additional yogurt, to garnish

Fennel fronds, to garnish

Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, fennel, and fennel seeds. Sauté until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add cubed beets and stir to coat. Add water and bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low and cook until beets are tender, about 20 minutes. Puree soup in batches in blender, or use an immersion blender. Strain soup into original saucepan. Whisk in 1 cup yogurt and season soup with salt and black pepper. Keep soup warm until ready to serve.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 to 2 Tbsp extra greek yogurt with a little water or milk, just enough to thin it out to a slightly runny consistency. Ladle soup into serving bowls. Make drops of yogurt and water (or milk) mixture on top of soup, then drag a tooth pick through the center of the dots to create a heart shape. Garnish with fennel fronds.