This was an accidental soup. Sunday, I intended to make butternut squash soup, because there’s half a butternut squash sitting (still) in the fridge. I had a plan for that squash but neglected to buy white potatoes and since I already started defrosting chicken stock, I thought… let’s figure out a way to make a soup with sweet potatoes instead.

To my surprise, the sweet potatoes make a light, yet richly flavored soup. This makes a lot of soup, enough to serve a family of 4 or 5 people twice as a starter, perhaps just once if you were to use it as a ‘main’ soup or have a crowd to feed. You can also freeze half to unveil later on a busy weeknight when you need a quick vegetable side dish.

Ingredients:

8 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock

1 large carrot (peeled and chopped)

2 celery (chopped)

1 inch of peeled and grated turmeric (or substitute 1 teaspoon dried turmeric)

2 sweet potatoes peeled and cubed

1 medium onion (chopped)

2 garlic cloves (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Optional: 1/2 cup of peeled and chopped apple

Optional: (float a whole hot pepper like a jalapeño or arbol in the soup while it’s simmering and remove it before pureeing. It will flavor the soup without making it spicy.  OR add 1/4 teaspoon of dried chili pepper flakes)

Love the immersion blender! Blending sweet potato apple & sage soup

Steps to Put This on Your Table:

1. Saute the onion, carrot, garlic, apple (if using) and sweet potato on medium heat for about 5  – 10 minutes in a small amount (i.e. 1 or 2 tbsp. of stock.) Then add the remaining stock and ingredients.
2. Bring to a boil then simmer on medium to medium high heat for 25 – 35 minutes, until sweet potatoes are soft.
3. Remove the chili pepper (if using) from the soup using a slotted spoon and when it’s cooled slightly (about 10 to 15 minutes) using an immersion blender, blend the soup (carefully, it will splatter) in the pot until it’s smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, let it cool down more significantly (i.e. 15 – 20 minutes) and carefully pour the soup into a Cuisinart or blender — working in batches — and puree until smooth.

Kid Modifications:

My youngest appreciates soup and my oldest doesn’t (yet.) Before all of the veggies are pureed, I use a slotted spoon to remove a couple of cooked vegetables (i.e. sweet potato) to give him in non-soup-like form. My daughter gets a small (i.e. 1/3 cup) teacup of soup which she’s thrilled to eat. Like a big girl. 🙂

Questions? Thoughts? Please leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you.