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Sunday, March 2, 2014

Recipe Review - Sweet Potato Jalapeno Soup


 

This is a recipe that I received a few years ago from my sister Kristin over at Always Moving! Kristin and Tim are very healthy eaters compared to my family (their house = zero junk food), and the best part about what they eat is that they grow or harvest the majority of what they eat. Seriously. They make their own yogurt, have an enormous vegetable garden, raise bees for honey, hunt and eat a lot of their own venison, pick tons of wild berries, and can or freeze enough food to feed three families! I dabble in most of those areas, but I have yet to make yogurt or raise bees. I swear I have witnessed Tim putting potatoes, kale, and leftover salad in their breakfast smoothies. Crazy kids!

However, everything that I ever eat at their house is delicious! They make a lot of great soups, but this sweet potato jalapeno soup is my absolute favorite! It's not low fat or full of fiber or a "health food" in any other sense except that sweet potatoes are excellent for you and it's chock-full of them! It is so sweet and a little bit hot, but belly-warming and robust! Yum!!!

 (Photo Source*)

Sweet Potato Jalapeno Soup

1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
3-4 large sweet potatoes (about 3 lbs.), peeled and coarsely diced
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup half and half
2 T butter
Optional: snipped fresh cilantro

Melt 2 T butter in a dutch oven, stock pot, or large sauce pan over low heat.
Sweat the onions, garlic and jalapenos in the butter until translucent; about 5 minutes.
Add the diced sweet potatoes and broth and turn heat to high. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender; about 10-15 minutes.

If you prefer a smooth, pureed soup, carefully ladel the soup into a blender in batches and puree until smooth or use a stick blender to puree the whole pot of soup at once. I like a thick and creamy soup with some chunks, so I only puree about half of mine and then stir the pureed soup and the non-pureed soup together.

Once all of your soup is pureed (or not) return the soup to the pot and stir in the half and half, brown sugar, and cilantro.

I LOVE the fresh cilantro in this soup, so I add a ton of it. Cliff isn't much of a cilantro fan, so he loves this soup without the cilantro. I usually serve up the soup and put a separate bowl of chopped cilantro out so that those who like it can add as much as they want.

Make it today! It will warm your soul!

*The photo above is not my soup recipe and is not my photo. However, it looks exactly like this soup looks - I just didn't take a photo of mine. The source of the photo above is here.

5 comments:

Kristin said...

Funny, I made sweet potato soup last night! I left out the jalapenos since I didn't have the energy to make another meal if that was too spicy for the kids.

Erin J said...

Was it still good without the jalapeno Kristin? Gavin eats it with the jalapeno as long as I don't put too much in. He isn't a fan of the puree though, so I usually leave part of it unpureed. I think it's time to go buy some more sweet potatoes!

Big Sis said...

You mentioned pumpkin in the recipe. Have you put pumpkin in it?

Erin J said...

Hi Big Sis! I'm so sorry! I corrected the typo - it shouldn't have said pumpkin. However, Rutz has made this soup with pumpkin instead of sweet potatoes and said it worked well. I just LOVE sweet potatoes and almost always have them on hand, so that's what I use.

Erin J said...

I've also done a combination of sweet potatoes, carrots, and regular white potatoes or even some butternut or buttercup squash when I don't have quite enough sweet potatoes to cut it! It's tasty however you tweak it! As my Mom always says, "It'll be good!"