Borscht

I made this for the first time in my life on Saturday.  Unlike the other recipes on this blog, this is NOT a recipe I have perfected, but a friend asked me to post what I did so here's my best attempt:

3-4 beets
1/2 a head of cabbage, chopped fairly thin
3-4 carrots, thinly sliced (I used a wide grater to slice them)
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 onion
8-16 oz tomatoes
3-4 whole sausages (I used Italian, but I think Kielbasa or another smoked sausage might be better)
water
chicken broth
salt and pepper
a shitload of dill (at least 2 teaspoons dried)
3-4 T red wine vinegar (I ran out of red wine vinegar and used balsamic)

Clean the beets and cover with water.  Cook whole for about an hour; remove from liquid and cool.  When cool, peel and chop into 1/2-inch cubes.

Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, onion, and carrots to the beet water as well as some chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer and throw the whole sausages in.  When the vegetables begin to wilt, add the chopped beets and dill.  Simmer until vegetables are soft; 15-30 minutes or so.

Serve with sour cream or yogurt.

The next day, I added a couple cloves of minced garlic and more chicken broth when I heated the soup up.

Now, here's what I think I'll do differently next time:

-Use more beets. I love beets.
-Cook the beets in chicken stock made from scratch or, better yet, beef stock.  Somehow I think a hearty, beefy borscht might be absolutely divine.
-Add a couple cloves of garlic.
-Either omit the sausage altogether or use kielbasa.  I'm still a little unsure about the sausage, to be honest.
-Don't use as much dry dill and throw in fresh dill at the end instead