Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

Alright, so "sweet potato" means yam here. There is a difference, but the common parlance equates sweet potato with yam, so I commonly refer to yams as sweet potatoes. Feel free to grow indignant. The snow has been melting like crazy around here and the temperature has been steady around 40 degrees, so making this soup meant pairing it with a rather light salad, but I'm hoping for more snow. Hush. Don't tell anyone.

Yams are seriously healthful, and when combined with celery, leeks, onion, and garlic, they also happen to be damn tasty. I serve this soup with a spinach salad full of veggies and a bit of grilled chicken, but I imagine you could easily add rice to this soup for a more hearty soup. Also, for vegetarians, veggie stock works very well in this recipe, given the natural sweetness of the yams.

L'chaim!



Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

3 tbsp. butter
1.5 lbs. yams, peeled and cubed
1 large leek, sliced
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
4 cups chicken stock
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup skim milk
Italian parsley, to garnish


Directions
1. Melt butter over medium heat in a medium soup pot. Add onion, leek, garlic, and celery; saute for 8-10 minutes. Add chicken stock and yams to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes.
2. Once veggies are tender, salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and either puree in batches in a blender, or use a hand blender (I heart my hand blender). Return to pan with heat off, and stir in cayenne, salt and pepper to taste, and skim milk. Stir to combine. Spoon into bowls with chopped parsley as a garnish.