Oh what do you do in the summer time, when all the grass is green? Do you sit by the stream and lazily dream or…make soup?!
Two rules about food that I never follow:
- You can only eat certain foods during specific times of the year. Seriously, who made those rules? If I want soup, or pumpkin pie, or ice cream…I’m eating it. Whenever I want to.
- Following recipes. Yeah, basically I never do that…which could explain some of the epic failures that I’ve had in the kitchen.
Rule #2 I pretty much break everyday. It’s actually pretty liberating and invigorating in the kitchen to not be confined to a recipe. I’ve only just begun feeling confident enough with flavor profiles and baking ratios to create meals and desserts off the fly without looking at a recipe. The outcome is always a surprise…some better than others.
Now rule #1 I only break when I’m having a major craving. Well, except for the ice cream category. I eat that every night whether it’s the middle of the winter or 115 degrees outside. It’s just as delicious.
Tonight I was a rule breaker.
I wanted soup. It’s hot outside.
I wanted sweet potatoes. It’s summer.
I made Savory Sweet Potato Soup. And it was good. Yep, I do what I want.
This soup is light and creamy with the combination of half and half, skim milk, and vegetable stock as its liquid base. And the flavor is spot on with the roasted sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic. I spiced it up with a little cayenne, chili powder, and cumin to give it some warmth and depth.
Mmm, this soup is good. You’re probably going to want to lick your lips while your eating it. You may even slurp your bowl. That’s okay. I won’t judge.
What rules do you break when it comes to food? C’mon, spill the beans!
- 4 medium sized sweet potatoes
- 1 small onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups half and half
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1-2 cups vegetable stock*
- 1½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon honey
- dash of cinnamon
- dash of nutmeg
- Dried cranberries for garnish (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange sweet potatoes, onion, and garlic cloves on baking sheet. Pierce potatoes with a knife, three times each. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil. Generously salt and pepper. Using hands, rub oil around on all vegetables. Roast in oven for 1 hour 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Once vegetables have cooled enough to handle, peel sweet potatoes and cut into three or four large chunks. Add sweet potatoes, onion wedges, garlic cloves (remove the skin), half and half, skim milk, 1 cup of vegetable stock, and oregano to the blender. You may need to do this in two batches. Blend until smooth, 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides of blender if needed. (Make sure blender is off when scraping sides)
- Pour mixture into a crockpot or large pot. Add 1 teaspoon salt, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, pepper, honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir to combine. If using a crockpot, heat on low for 2 hours to blend flavors. If using a stove, simmer on low for an hour with the lid on.
- Once finished cooking, stir soup and add more vegetable stock to achieve desired consistency. Add additional seasonings to taste. Serve warm with dried cranberries as garnish.
