Monk Soup Romanian Style

Ingredients

• 100 g Spinach
• 0.5 yellow bell pepper
• 2 Tomatoes
• 2 firm potatoes
• 1 white onion
• 1 Garlic clove
• 125 g cabbage
• 1 stalk Celery
• 50 g root celery
• 1 small beetroot
• 1 Carrot
• 125 ml whey
• 80 ml tomato juice
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley

Instructions

1. 1.

   Clean and drain the spinach. Wash the bell pepper, trim it, and slice into fine strips. Score the tomatoes at the stem end, blanch them, cool in ice water, peel, quarter, seed, and cut into bite‑size pieces.

2. 2.

   Peel the potatoes and dice them 1–2 cm. Peel and mince the onion and garlic. Clean, wash, drain, and thinly slice the cabbage. Wash, trim, and slice the celery stalks into fine rounds. Peel the root celery, carrot, and beetroot, then cut all into fine strips.

3. 3.

   Combine the potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, onions with the cabbage, celery stalks, root celery, and garlic; pour in 750 ml water, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

4. 4.

   Add the tomato pieces and spinach to the soup, pour in the whey and tomato juice. Season with salt and lemon juice, garnish with parsley if desired, and serve.