Nutty Sweet Potato Soup

May 2, 2008 at 12:12 pm · Filed under Food

This soup looks lovely doesn’t it? The bright, vibrant colors combined with the interesting and healthy ingredients should turn out a winner, right? Wrong…just so wrong. This soup was terrible, I could only slurp down a few spoonfuls, each time hoping it would get better and it never did. The recipe came from my new Ellie Krieger cookbook I’ve been using maybe too much lately and described it as an African-type soup. I’m a big fan of African cuisine and the flavors seemed intriguing but it just didn’t taste good at all to me.

Now I made this a couple of weeks ago and I never put my finger on why it just didn’t work for me. But after watching this week’s episode of Top Chef, it hit me. One of the chefs in the bottom three for the elimination challenge made a dish with peanut butter and tomatoes, and while I know that this is a base for some African cooking, I think I’ll agree with Tom Colicchio (my Peterstown buddy) on this one. It just doesn’t taste right together (for me). And I think that’s where this soup went wrong. I really wanted to like this one too….

Overall rating – 1 star

Ellie Krieger’s Nutty Sweet Potato Soup

60 Minutes to Prepare and Cook

1 tablespoon canola oil1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups) 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced (about 1 cup) 2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup) 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon) 1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed (2 cups) 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth 1 (14.5-ounce) can no salt added diced tomatoes, with their juices 2/3 cup creamy natural peanut butter 2 teaspoons honey 1/2 cup chopped scallion greens (about 3 scallions)

Directions

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over a medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell pepper and carrots and cook, stirring until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add the cayenne, black pepper, garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the sweet potato, broth, and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. *Puree the soup in the pot using an immersion blender or in a regular blender in 2 batches and return the soup to the pot. Add the peanut butter and honey and stir, over low heat, until the peanut butter melts. Serve warm, garnished with the scallions. *When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth. Servings: 6Number of Servings: 6Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user SLBBW66. Number of Servings: 6 http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=224436

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