I never make soup from a recipe unless I am trying something new. And now that the autumn weather has rushed in it is definitely soup weather. Last night I whipped up this bowl of (vegan) Carrot Sweet Potato soup in about 30 minutes and it was both beautiful and exactly what I hoped for - strong flavored, beautifully colored and the perfect end to a cold and blustery day.
Ingredients:
1 yellow onion chopped
A dash of olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
A big dash (probably a tablespoon) of cumin
A dash of paprika (teaspoon)
A dash of turmeric (teaspoon)
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
5 cups of water (4 would make the soup creamier)
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large pot and then add onions. Cook until softened, but not brown (5-7 minutes). Add carrots, sweet potato, and all spices to the onions. Cook for 3-5 minutes stirring often. This will allow the spice blend to meld a bit with the onion and oil as well as "roast" the vegetables a little, adding depth of flavor. Add the water. Cook, uncovered, until the vegetables are soft. This took me 25 - 30 minutes and might have took less time, but I got busy reading and forgot to check on it.
After the vegetables have cooked thoroughly either use an immersion blender (which is what I did) right in the pot. I don't even turn the stove off, yes that is probably dangerous, but it is how I roll in the kitchen. The other option is to use a blender which I find to be a pain, but would totally work. Make sure that you work in batches to blend the soup though because it will or could explode. Hot liquids, plus blenders, equals explosions.
Serve soup immediately.
Options:
I considered adding half and half, cream or even soy milk to make this richer, but went for the vegan version instead. You could also add a dollop of sour cream to the top of this soup or swirl in some cream at the end, which would be pretty. Another idea would be to use this soup as a base for a hearty stew type meal, adding green beans, corn, and northern white beans, but again, I went for simple.
Addendum: I totally blocked it out. I also put half a jalapeno that I minced in the soup. We grew them so I add them to everything and don't even think about it. But I shouldn't have forgotten! I had touched the edge of my right eye some time after handling the pepper and my eye was on fire. Fire! After much rinsing, I ate soup. Which was great and not hot at all.