sweet potato & leek soup

I don't particularly like potatoes! Blech. They have no flavor to me. Add some sour cream, chives, broccoli, red onion and cheese sauce, and I'll happily eat it. (That's how I ate my baked potato in Watterson food court at college.) Those baby reds can sometimes make a good potato salad, but it's just those Yukon Golds and others like it, that I can't really stand.

When I bought leeks the other day [two for $1.99] I had no idea how to use them. After some internet searching, I found that they are commonly used in soups, and furthermore, are often paired with potatoes. Bummer.

Thank goodness for Sweet Potatoes. I took the idea of a Potato and Leek soup and used Sweet Potatoes instead. Not only do I think it will taste better, but I think the bright color of the sweet potato will make it much more attractive than a russet potato would. Yeah, this might taste better in October, but I'm in an air-conditioned house. I can eat this soup year round.

Remember, it's healthy too. You can even knock out the butter if you'd like, but 2 tablespoons of butter split into at least six servings means you can probably enjoy this quilt free as is.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of sweet potatoes (about 3 medium) cubed

2 leeks sliced thin (only the white and light green part)

5 cups of low sodium, fat free chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 handfuls of baby carrots, chopped (yields 1/2 cup to a cup)

2 tablespoons of butter

1 1/2 tablespoons of flour

3 tablespoons chives, chopped

3/4 cup almond milk (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Prep your ingredients. Cube the sweet potatoes, mince the garlic, slice the leeks, chop the carrots, slice the celery, and cut up the chives. Throw the leeks into a pasta drainer and wash well (leeks need to be thoroughly washed. There's always a lot of dirt in the creases.)

Throw the butter into a large pot with the garlic, carrots, celery, and about a fourth of the leeks. Cook on medium heat until everything is a bit tender. I waited bout seven minutes.

Add the flour to absorb the remaining liquid. Stir for a minute straight so nothing sticks.

  

Now quickly add the chicken broth, almond milk (if you want your soup a little creamy), the remaining leeks, the cubed sweet potatoes, your chopped chives, and some salt and pepper. Let it cook for 30 minutes on a simmer. Try to smash a sweet potato with a fork or spoon. If it crushes easily, you can turn the heat off and remove the pan from the heat to cool.

This part was the most annoying - waiting for the ingredients to cool. I waited about 30 minutes since I have a fear of my blender spitting my cooking right back at me. So I split up my "soup" into thirds and pureed the sections one at a time til they were smooth. I transferred my soup to a smaller pot and re-heated it until it was decently hot.

I topped my soup with fat-free sour cream and some more chopped up chives, however, I actually liked how it tasted without the sour cream. You can drop some plain yogurt in there or add a splash of cream too. I liked it plain since it had such a natural sweetness to it from the sweet potatoes. The bright orange color made me feel a little better about making soup in the middle of June. My iPhone really does not do my food justice. Ciao!