šaltibarščiai- Lithuanian Cold Beet Soup Recipe (North Europe) -Easy, delicious, nutritious, low calories!

šaltibarščiai- Lithuanian Cold Beet Soup Recipe (North Europe) - Easy, delicious, nutritious, low calories! 

It's a refreshing delicacy on a hot day! Rich in multivitamins & anti-oxidants for anti-aging! Low fat, Low calories. Approx 150 kcal per 200ml serving. High fibre, high protein, low carbohydrates. So simple, delicious, healthy ! Try it now, be beautiful :) 

Ingredients (for 6-8 servings):
• 500g ( approx 3 medium size)  red beets
• 2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 300g of chives, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 peeled hard-cooked eggs
• 1 cup sour cream ( can be substituted with 1 cup plain natural yogurt, yogurt is 3 times lower in calories! )
• 4 cups buttermilk (can be substituted with 4cups low fat milk + 4 table spoons white vinegar, waited 5mins for the milk to be cultured)
• Fresh / dried chopped dill
• Salt / honey for seasoning.

Preparation:
1. Cut the red beets into half and put in a pot. Add water until just enough to cover the beets. Bring water to boil. While cooking the beets, chop the egg whites finely. Mash the egg yolks with 1/4 teaspoon salt and combine with chopped chives, and reserve.
2. When the beets are tender, remove them from the cooking liquid (reserve the cooking liquid) and cool beets in the refrigerator or running cold water. When cool, grate them coarsely.
3. Add buttermilk (or low fat milk with vinegar) and sour cream (or plain yogurt), blend well. Mix in grated beets, chopped cucumbers, chopped egg whites, lots of dill, and yolk-chives mixture. Slowly add in the reserved beets cooking liquid until the soup reaches your preferred viscosity. Stir mixture until well blended. Adjust seasonings.
4. Pour into a container and refrigerate until well chilled. Keep & serve chilled. 

Ingredients needed for making Saltibarsciai. Do not add santan (coconut powder) !!! It is high in saturated fat.