Ayurvedic beet soup: A healthier version of Aukstá zupa

Before summer officially ends, allow me to introduce you to this lively, Ayurvedic beet soup.

To prepare it, I got inspired by the Latvian Aukstá zupa, a hot pink soup they serve in the Baltic States.

This is however a healthier version, but just as nutritive and cooling.

The most perfect and refreshing way to end the hot season and initiate the transition to the colder months.

Aukstá zupa, but healthier

The vibrant Latvian beet soup is usually served cold in summer.

Therefore, it’s virtually impossible to find it in restaurants in other seasons.

It is typically made with beets, cucumbers, kefir, hard-boiled eggs, and vinegar.

After researching online, I found, however, many discrepancies in the recipes. Some also use lime, others use mayonnaise, and I even saw one that called for milk sausage. I later learned milk sausage is a white chorizo made from minced veal and pork back bacon.

Naturally, I won’t use some of these ingredients and will substitute others for a more Ayurvedic version.

Two reasons that made me alter the Latvian recipe:

1. The ingredient can be poisonous to the body. E.g., the milk sausage.
2. The combination of foods could obstruct our digestion process or weaken the digestive fire, Agni.

Ayurvedic hot pink soup

For our Ayurvedic beet soup, inspired in the Baltic recipe, we will make the following modifications:

• We won’t use cucumbers as they are incompatible with milk and lemon. We will replace them for yellow zucchinis.
• Likewise, we won’t use Kefir because we will be adding lime + it can make the whole combination heavier. Since we will say goodbye to summer with this soup we want to deliberately increase its light attribute. Hence, we will be using unsweetened almond or coconut milk.
• No eggs to make this Ayurvedic beet soup easier to digest.
• We will have the soup at room temperature instead of cold.

Beetroot health benefits

Beets are a vivacious and versatile vegetable.

They add effortlessly a wonderful color to your meals and are packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds, many of which have medicinal properties.

These are some of the benefits:

1. Few calories, yet plenty of nutrients — Beetroots contain fiber, folate, manganese, copper, potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and iron.
2. Beets are effective at keeping your blood pressure under control and reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke due to their high concentration of nitrates.
3. They help us improve our fitness, cardiorespiratory performance, and mitochondria efficiency.
4. Beets reduce chronic inflammation as they contain pigments called betalains which possess numerous anti-inflammatory properties.
5. Beetroots are a good source of fiber that helps our digestive health and reduces the risk of several health conditions.

As per Ayurveda, beets have a sweet rasa or taste, a cooling energy, and a pungent post-digestive effect.

They are also categorized as heavy. Beetroots pacify Vata and Kapha dosha.

Learn more about the Vata and Kapha dosha diets.

Ayurvedic beet soup recipe

This recipe is ideal for Vata and Kapha dosha, but if you are Pitta, you could occasionally enjoy it.