Winter warmer, sweet potato and coconut soup! (Soups)

Member Name: Beckyyy

Product:	Soups
Date:	02/11/09 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smells and tastes delicious, so easy to make

Disadvantages: Could work out expensive in some shops

Now it's getting a little bit colder, I've been making more soup recently. After gradually converting from cans, to brands like Covent Garden, I decided to make my own. This was my first attempt, and it is an absolutely lovely soup! It's very filling, creamy and sweet, but very well balanced and none of the flavours over power each other. It makes for a great meal, or lunch and has been a great hit for me!

This recipe usually makes around 4 very good sized bowls:

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1 Teaspoon, freshly grated root ginger
Grated rind, and juice of 1 Lime
1 Red Chilli, deseeded and chopped finely
750g (1 and a half lb) of Sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
600ml Vegetable Stock
400g Coconut Milk (You can usually buy 400ml cans, which are perfect!)
150g Spinach leaves
Salt and Pepper to season (if you want to!)

Equipment:
Chopping Board
Potato Peeler
Good sized Saucepan with lid
Wooden Spoon
Knife
Blender (or potato masher and lots of elbow grease!)
Grater

Method:

1. Heat the oil in the pan, and once hot add:
The chopped onion
Garlic
Ginger
Lime Rind
Chilli
and cook over a low heat stirring frequently until the onion has softened. This usually takes around 5 minutes, maybe a couple more.

2. Stir in the coconut milk, lime juice, and salt/pepper seasoning if wanted.

3. Bring the soup to the boil, then reduce the heat, pop the lid on and leave it to simmer for at least 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are lovely and tender. I usually think the longer the better, because the flavours will infuse even more.

4. Transfer half the soup into a blender, then blend until smooth and return to the pan. If you're not using a blender, like I didn't the first time, just grab your masher and go for it. It might take a few minutes to reach a nice consistency, but it can be done!

5. Add the spinach, and cook until just wilted.

6. Adjust any seasoning, and enjoy!

This soup is a great winter warmer, and it's surprisingly easy to make. The chilli gives it a little bit of bite, without being over powering and the coconut milk makes it nice and creamy without being overly sweet. It usually only takes around 20 minutes to make, and costs around £6 for the ingredients (due to having to buy packs of some, when you don't need them all), but it's well worth the money I think, and tastes gorgeous!

Summary: Give it a try!