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Sweet Potato Soup & Sides

I'm not feeling great today.  It's definitely a soup day.

It seems there is a type of food to cure every problem.  Hung over?  Eat McDonalds.  Happy?  Eat cake.  Sad?  Eat anything bad for you...chocolate works for me.  Tired?  Drink coffee.  Defeated?  Have some soup.  Food is the answer to everything!

Since it's Meatless Monday, I turn to my trusty tofu for the protein in this meal.  You can make the soup with or without it.  I increased some of the ingredients below because I wanted more soup then what the original recipe made. I also had stale mini pitas to use up, so I made parmesan crisps as a side.  My veggie is asparagus that I picked up from the farmers market.  Enjoy! Sweet Potato Soup With Lime
1 onion chopped (I used 3 onions and 1 shallot, love onions!)
1 1/2 tsp chili powder (I didn't have any, so I used about 3T cajun seasoning)
3 c chicken broth (I used about 4 cups and then poured more water on top to cover the potatoes)
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (I only partially peeled them; skin is good for you, just wash well)
1 1/2c milk
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch (I had none left, so I used flour)
3/4c plain yogurt (I used Astro 0%)
1/4 tsp salt, pepper
2 T lime
1 package extra firm tofu (if using), cubed small

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add the garlic, onion, and chill powder.  Saute for 5 minutes.  Add the broth and sweet potatoes (this is where I topped up the pot with boiling water to make sure everything was covered).  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes (I left mine on high heat to continue boiling because I left some peel in - didn't change the cooking time though, go with 20 minutes).  Move pot off of burner, and puree with a hand blended until smooth.  Add milk if necessary to thin(I didn't).  Return the pot to burner and stir in milk.  This is also where i threw in a package of cubed extra firm tofu.   Heat, stirring, until steamy but do not let boil (this only takes a minute).  In a small bowl whisk the cornstarch (or flour) into 1/2c of the yogurt.  Stir into soup.  Heat stirring for 1 minute.  Stir in salt and season to taste.  Stir lime zest and juice into remaining yogurt.  Ladle soup into bowls and dollop with the lime yogurt.

Pita bread (I used mini pitas)
Garlic salt (I chopped up fresh garlic and mixed it with the oil for brushing - warm it up in the microwave first)
Parmesan (shredded or grated, your choice.  I used a fresh block and chopped it up)

Preheat oven to 350.  Cut pitas into pieces (if you are using whole pitas) like triangles or squares.  Brush each piece with oil then sprinkle with garlic salt (or use the garlic oil as mentioned above).  Top each piece with parmesan.  Bake 8-10 minutes.  Best served warm (right away)

Roasted Asparagus (with Parmesan of course...)
Asparagus (I do big batches of this, depends on how many you are feeding)
Fresh pepper
Parmesan, shaved

Set oven to roast at 400.  Toss Asparagus with some EVOO and coarse salt.  Sprinkle with pepper.  Top with shaved parmesan,  Roast for 15-20 minutes, depending on the amount of asparagus you are cooking.

A great meal, hope you love it!
Posted by Foodie At Heart at 2:06 PM Labels: comfort food, parmesan pita crisps, roasted asparagus, soup, sweet potato soup, tofu, vegetarian
