Mayan Sweet Potato Soup

Mayan Sweet Potato Soup by Jessica Lacher-Feldman
photo by Thomas Little

Mayan Sweet Potato Soup

A soup inspired by my little babe is really sweet and the fact that it is a sweet potato soup is quite appropriate. Personally, I love a good sweet potato soup, and having created a sweeter one for the holidays with my Sweet Potato/Cranberry Soup I really enjoyed reading about this recent recipe submission that paired sweet potatoes with numerous spices. Created by Jessica Lacher-Feldman, the soup includes cumin, chili powder, and tabasco (to name a few key ingredients) that gives the soup a nice kick, which pairs nicely with the sweetness in the potatoes. The soup was also prepared with similar cooking mantra to myself–"cooking by taste and eye, adjusting as you go."  So, when preparing this soup be aware that the measurements are rough estimates and can modified based on your preferences (less spice, more sweet, etc). Check out Jessica's sweet potato recipe with a kick: 

 

Mayan Sweet Potato Soup

Guest Blogger: Jessica Lacher-Feldman

Ingredients:
water, enough to cover everything completely
1.5 quart cartons of Pacific organic chicken broth
5-6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large or two medium onions, chopped up
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped up
1 raw chili pepper (I used an anaheim), remove seeds and chop
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of tabasco
2 tablespoons of agave nectar or sweetener to taste (optional - my sweet potatoes were kind of old)
2 tablespoons of cumin, to taste
a teaspoon of hot Mexican chili powder, to taste
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper 

Directions:
In a dutch oven or heavy pot, add the oil, sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic. Season with generous amounts of cumin and chili powder, along with pepper. Sautee and add a little water to the sweet potatoes, which will give the onions a little color.  Add the chili and let cook for five minutes or so. Add more water and chicken stock and bring to a low boil, reduce and simmer until tender.  Blend until smooth (I used a potato masher first, then the hand blender) taste and re-season with salt, tabasco, and pepper.  Add a touch of sweetener if soup has lost it's sweetness (not really necessary but it was for mine).

Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds, crushed tortilla chips, cilantro, or whatever you like.

What are some other ways to prepare sweet potato as a soup?