By Kathryn McLean
March isn’t spring yet in my eyes, but it also isn’t really winter either. I’m still reaching for my hat and scarf when I leave the house, it’s too early to switch out of winter boots, and summer feels like a far-off dream.
So during these in-between winter and spring days, I find myself making soups. Sweet potato soup doesn’t feel too wintery like hearty minestrone, or too light like pea soup. I think sweet potato soup falls in between. Like March, it’s between winter and spring. And it is easy to make!
If you like squash soup, you’ll probably like sweet potato soup, too. It’s a thick pureed soup that tastes slightly sweet.
My sweet potato soup recipe calls for one parsnip. If you aren’t familiar, parsnip is a root vegetable that looks like a chubby white carrot. Parsnips aren’t as sweet as carrots, rather they taste like a mix of white potato and carrot.
You can substitute an ordinary carrot in place of the parsnip in this recipe if you prefer, but the result will be a sweeter soup. Replace the ground cumin with nutmeg if you don’t like cumin.
Sweet Potato Soup with Cumin – makes about 5 cups
½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or cooking oil of your choice)
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped into ½” pieces
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces (approx. 4 cups)
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces (approx.
1 cup)3 cups cold water
½ tsp ground cumin
Sea salt to taste
● Heat a medium-sized soup pot over medium low. Add the olive oil, chopped onion and a generous pinch of salt. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
● Add the chopped sweet potato and parsnip. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
● Add the water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the vegetables are easily pierced with the tip of a sharp knife or tines of a fork.
● Remove from the heat and stir in the cumin.
● Using an immersion blender, carefully puree the soup in its cooking pot, scraping down the sides to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated; OR transfer the ingredients to a traditional upright blender or food processor with the blade attachment in place. Be sure to remove the steam vent/pusher tube to allow steam from the hot soup to escape.
● Puree until smooth and serve the soup warm.
Makes about 5 cups