Roasted Beet Soup (Fırınlanmış Pancar Çorbası)

I had found a recipe for a roasted beet soup at Cafe Fernando. I was mesmerized by the color of the beet soup and also by the fact that I'd never cooked with beets before. So I decided to try; however, the original recipe asked for celery stalks, which I cannot stand, and was introduced as a "sweet" one. So, to avoid celery stalks and sweetness, I modified the recipe a little bit, o.k. maybe a lot.

I updated the recipe after my 2nd trial.

3 beet roots, diced
1 cup beet stalks, chopped
5 cloves of garlic
1 carrot, cut in rounds
1 potato, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup rice
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp white peppercorn
1 tsp crushed pepper/ pepper flakes (if you want it spicy)
1 tsp red chili powder
7 cups of water or vegetable stock
1/2 bunch dill

optional
juice of 1 lemon or lime
crumbled feta

-Wrap beet roots separately and garlic cloves together in aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven at 375 F for an hour. You have to let them cool down to a bearable temperature before you peel and dice the roots.
-Heat oil + butter in a large pot and start cooking onions, peppers, and beet stalks
-Add carrots and potatoes. Stir on medium heat for 4-5 minutes
-Now it's time to add beets, garlic, and white peppercorns. Stir for 2-3 minutes
-Add red chili powder, stir for half a minute and add water, salt, and crushed pepper
-When the water boils add rice. Cook for 40 minutes on low to medium heat and stir every now and then
-The soup will be ready when rice is cooked
-I used the soup master (the hand blender) to smoothen it. If you won't smoothen the soup, you should probably chop everything finely
-Garnish with dill and serve with a slice of lemon or lime. The sourness gives it a nice flavor

Things to keeps in mind if you'll try to make this soup are 1) do not wear white! 2) do not skip on dill; you won't believe how well roasted beet and dill get along 3) be adventurous and sprinkle some crumbled feta on top with dill (it's good with lemon juice, too, but I think I favor feta over lemon).

This recipe with the must-have ingredient dill is for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging which is hosted by Ulrike of Kuchenlatein.