Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

Having eaten the delicious Thai soup a few days ago, I craved hot soup every day this week. I craved it because it is still very chilly outside and partly because it helped soothe my sore throat, which I can happily say is all gone. Yippee!

With unlimited amount of coconut milk around the house that was used for our  traditional New Year’s Day menu, I wanted to make a healthy soup that used coconut milk to take advantage of the supply.

That’s the real deal. I normally use Trader Joe’s lite coconut milk because it’s more accessible, but since I had the real thing on hand, I figured why not use it.

There were plenty of recipes that I wanted to try (see here and here) but I eventually settled for a sweet and savory flavor. This recipe was adapted from KathEats.

Sweet Potato and  Kale Soup

• 2 pounds of sweet potato, cut into 1” pieces and microwaved in a bowl on high for 6.5 minutes to start the cooking process (I used 1 pound uncooked sweet potato and 1 pound leftover roasted sweet potato)
• 3 cloves garlic,  pressed
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2/3 cup real coconut milk
• 1 cup low sodium vegetable stock
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or skim milk, soy milk)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 4 cups kale, trimmed, washed and torn into small pieces
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup salted peanuts, for garnish

1. Prepare sweet potatoes in microwave.
2. Heat a large pot on medium high.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil (I used coconut oil) and add potatoes, cooking until they begin to brown. Stir in garlic.
3. Add coconut milk, vegetable stock, almond milk, garam masala, salt, pepper and chili powder.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Mash potatoes with potato masher or puree with immersion blender.
6. Add raisins, kale and vanilla and cover. Allow to cook for 8-10 more minutes, until kale is bright green.
7. Portion into bowls and garnish with 1 tbsp each peanuts.

I never thought having kale in soups tasted so good. I love that it’s soft and chewy. I love eating kale raw in salads and I’ve eaten them steamed too, but there’s something about having them in soup that makes them taste great.

Instead of sour cream, I used plain greek yogurt to complete my bowl of soup.

I will definitely be making this again.