Fennel and Beet Borscht (2024)

Hey there, This week’s newsletter is going out all of my subscribers, both free and paid. I hope you enjoy! The next several weeks of newsletters will go to paid subscribers only. Upgrade to a paid subscription today, so you never miss a recipe or a story. (I’ll also be eternally grateful for your support.)

I feel fortunate to say that I have no shortage of great borscht in my life. Living in the same city as B&H Dairy—the iconic, 86-year old kosher restaurant in the East Village—a bowl of hot beet borscht brimming with carrots and cabbage is never far away. I am also partial to my own borscht creations, especially the Borscht with Butter Beans recipe I shared two winters ago amidst a frustrating Covid outbreak in my home.

But I am a firm believer that there is *always* room for more borscht. And this week’s newsletter recipe for Fennel and Beet Borscht, which comes from the forthcoming cookbook Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine by Micah Siva is a winner. (More about Micah below!)

Borscht is one of many examples of a dish that took on Jewish significance because of immigration. The tart and tangy, ruby-hued, beet-based soup is considered the national dish of Ukraine, and has been enjoyed by non-Jewish and Jewish Ukrainians alike for generations. When Jews fled Ukraine (and other parts of Eastern Europe where borscht was eaten) for America and Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they brought their beloved soup recipes with them. Here, on Jewish holiday tables and in restaurants like the aforementioned B&H Dairy, the soup became regarded as an Ashkenazi-American Jewish staple.

Micah’s borscht recipe includes a few creative tweaks that set it apart. Her addition of fennel is brilliant, lending an extra touch of sweetness and complexity to the broth that perfectly compliments the beets, cabbage, and carrots. She also stirs in some white miso for added depth and umami…and now I might never make borscht without miso again.

Scanning through my copy of Nosh, I flagged a ton of recipes I am excited to try. Cheesy Jumbo Stuffed Kasha and Shells? Celeriac “Pastrami” Sandwiches? Crispy Tahdig Rice “Latkes?” Yesssss please. With a crowd of hungry friends coming over for Shabbat dinner last Friday night and a blustery evening forecasted, the Fennel and Beet Borscht won out as my first recipe to try. But after rave reviews from my guests, I know I will be cooking from Nosh a lot in the coming years!

The Four Questions Interview: Micah Siva

Welcome to the latest installment ofThe Four Questions, The Jewish Table’s semi-regular interview segment featuring Jewish food luminaries. This week I’m excited to be joined by Micah Siva, a Canadian-born, San Francisco-based chef, dietitian, recipe writer, and food photographer who specializes in modern Jewish cuisine.

Micah is a relatively new friend who feels like an old friend. I first discovered her on Instagram, and instantly felt a kinship to her fresh, vibrant, global approach to Jewish cooking. We met in person this past November, when I was in San Francisco for a Portico event. Micah, her husband Josh, and their adorable dog Buckwheat graciously let me crash at their apartment, and Micah and I filmed a reel together that confirmed we are indeed simpatico in the kitchen!

Since then, she has given birth (literally) to a beautiful baby boy, Ari, and is about to give birth (metaphorically) to her first cookbook, Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine. (The book hits the stores March 5, but is available for pre-order.) Even as a lapsed vegetarian myself, I deeply identify with and appreciate the book’s assertion that plant-based Jewish dishes can be every bit as delicious and tied to tradition as their meat-and-root veggie counterparts. Micah and I chatted about her connection with Jewish food, how she transitioned from being a registered dietician to a full-time recipe developer and food writer, and her excitement to share challah, bagels, and matzo balls with Ari…just as soon as he’s old enough.

1. How would you define your relationship to Jewish food, and how has it evolved?

It feels so much more personal to me than it ever did. Growing up, Jewish food was what we ate on the holidays, but not something I thought about eating any other day. Day-to-day we had things like tuna and cream of mushroom soup casserole—as one does! Holidays were mostly at my grandma’s house, and many dishes came with a story about where they came from. But they weren’t our generation’s stories—Jewish food was always talked about in the past tense.

Now I feel like Jewish food is something I want to help define for our generation, so it isn’t limited to recipes from Norene Gilletz’s Pleasures of Your Food Processor Cookbook, with my grandma’s notes scribbled in the margins. (When my grandma passed away, that cookbook was the one thing I requested. It was so influential in her kitchen!)

Jewish cooking to me means exploring ingredients and dishes that connect Jewish food to everyday life—like having matzo and butter even when it isn’t Passover. (This combo was one of my pregnancy cravings!) Or matzo with cream cheese and everything bagel spice. Or snacking on halvah. Or always having the ends of a challah in the freezer to pull out when I’m having soup. Or making quick pickles when I have too many cucumbers. Or rubbing harissa on tofu. Or sprinkling a shawarma spice blend on anything savory. I’m talking about anything that makes you feel connected to tradition without necessarily having to prepare a full Shabbat dinner.

2. What was your journey to food writing and recipe development?

When I first started at university I was in the nursing program. But I realized I hated it after the first semester. I have a fear of hospitals, so that didn’t go well! I ended up going to culinary school in New York, and then fell into the world of dietetics and nutrition. After culinary school, I couldn’t stay in the United States, and my parents offered to help pay for a nutrition degree if I came back to Canada to study. I thought it was food related enough, but you lose some magic when talking about vitamins and minerals, rather than recipes. Throughout school, I had a small catering side business to keep me grounded with the culinary side of things.

In 2018, my husband and I moved to London for his work, and I could not find a job in the nutrition field. I started a food blog (mostly for me and my mom to be excited about!) while applying to jobs. But they were either very low paying, or located in a hospital, or 3 month contracts. So I started focusing more heavily on writing. I worked for Buzzfeed UK making pastry videos, and started to realize I could make a living out of this work. So I kept at it when we moved back to the States in 2020, and haven’t looked back.

3. What was your inspiration for writing Nosh?

I want Nosh to be the vegetarian, plant-forward Jewish cookbook I always wanted, but never had access to growing up. I felt guilty when my bubby couldn’t cook for me on holidays anymore, or when I couldn’t participate in some food aspects of Judaism, which for my family were the biggest parts.

I hope Nosh opens up the world of Jewish food to people who want to try something different. Jewish food is so diverse and can be so exciting! What was missing were recipes for people in the plant-based space. I hope the book reaches vegetarians and Jewish cooks and eaters who want to feel included at the seders or other holiday meals, or parents with vegetarian kids who want to make new traditions together while still connecting with their heritage. And because I look at food through the lens of a dietitian, I make sure that dishes are nutritionally well-rounded and have enough vegetarian protein. So if you’re going to a Rosh Hashanah family dinner, you can contribute a filling and nutritious salad with seitan or beans or tofu, and not be stuck filling your plate with a sad iceberg salad with bottled Italian dressing.

4. As a brand new parent who works in food, what do you hope to pass down to your son and the next generation?

I can’t wait for my son to get his little hands dirty in the kitchen! I hope we make challah together. I literally cannot wait for the moment he can eat a matzo ball. Hamantaschen are one of my favorite desserts ever, so I am excited for him to try those too. One of my most beloved food traditions from growing up was making stamp out sugar cookies on Hanukkah. Of course there is nothing “Jewish” about a sugar cookie other than maybe using blue sprinkles instead of red and green. But I hope we develop a ritual of baking together on the holidays. Maybe one day soon we can go to the bagel place and enjoy a bagel together. How cute will that be?

The official publication date for Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine is March 5. PRE-ORDER your copy today!

Fennel and Beet Borscht

Recipe adapted just a bit from Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine by Micah Siva. My adaptations are listed in parentheses throughout the recipe.

Serves 8

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (I used 3 tablespoons.)

1 medium yellow onion, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 fennel bulbs, quartered, cored, and roughly chopped (I used 1 large bulb.)

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (I used 4 cloves)

1 pound baby potatoes, quartered

2 large beets, peeled and grated (I cut the beets into 1/2-inch pieces because my box grater was trapped in a running dishwasher, lol! Either option is delish.)

1/2 medium green cabbage, finely chopped

6 cups vegetable broth (I used more like 7.5 cups, because I prefer slightly brothier soups.)

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more as needed

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more as needed

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon white or yellow miso paste

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill, plus more for serving

1/2 cup canned coconut milk, for serving (I omitted the coconut milk.)

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, 6 to 8 minutes.

2. Add the fennel, carrots, garlic, and potatoes and cook until the vegetables soften slightly, 5 to 6 minutes. (I added the beets in this step because I chopped rather than grated them. If grating, follow the recipe as written)

3. Add the grated beets, chopped cabbage, vegetable broth, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil then decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables soften, 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, miso paste, and dill, and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt or pepper, if needed.

5. Serve in bowls, drizzled with about 1 tablespoon of coconut milk per bowl, and sprinkled with additional dill.

Meet Micah in NYC, March 5!

Join Micah (in conversation with me) on March 5 at Gertie in Brooklyn. There will be copious Jewish food talk! There will be great food! There will be a silent auction benefiting food rescue initiatives! It’s going to be delicious fun. The ticket price includes a signed copy of Nosh, all drinks and food.

Tickets + Info