World Cuisines: Botwinka (Beet Soup) (Poland)

Ingredients:
- 3 medium-sized beets, peeled and cubed
- beet leaves from the 3 beets, chopped 
- 3-4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 medium white potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 chicken breast, cubed
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 1 allspice berry
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp salt or more for taste
- 3-4 black pepper berries

Preparation:
- Separate the beet leaves from the beets and set aside. 
- Put the beets (not the leaves yet), carrots, onions, chicken and spices in a large pot. Add water up to 2 inches above the ingredients. (It's up to you how thick or how liquidy you want your soup. You can always add more water at the end if it seems too thick to you).
- Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. Then add potatoes. If you add them at the beginning they might get too soft. Beets are pretty hard.
- Cook the soup for another 15 minutes or until potatoes are nearly soft. 
- Add the beet leaves and cook for another 10 minutes.
- In a bowl mix the sour cream with a few spoons of the hot liquid from the soup and then add the mixture back to the soup. (Why do we do that? We don't want the cream to curdle).
- Bring to a boil again and it's ready. 
- You can garnish your soup with a spoon of sour cream or plain yogurt.
- Enjoy your soup!

Makes 4 servings