Sweet Potato & Coconut Soup w/ Thai Pesto

I tried another recipe from Easy Vegan today, and I must say, I really do love this cookbook!  I highly recommend it especially if you are looking for some interesting easy vegan dishes!!  I’ve been impressed with every recipe I’ve tried so far.

Ok, but I don’t really follow recipes I always, and I mean always adjust, add, replace, remove ingredients based on what I have in the kitchen and also based on our tastes. I like to call it my creativity

That said, this soup is amazing, really amazing.  We both loved it!!  And the Thai Pesto…. it is oh-so-versatile!!  I used it in hubby’s afternoon snack – avocado, tomato, bean sprout  & thai pesto sandwich – he loved it!!

So here’s my version, I made a double batch so we would have for 2-3 meals, although you could definitely have enough for 4 meals (hubby eats a lot ).

Ingredients:
Serves 6-8

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 lbs/900g sweet potato, chopped into chunks
• 2 red onions, chopped
• 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 1 can/398ml unsweetened coconut milk
• 5 cups water
• 1/8 cube vegetable bouillon cube

Add oil to large sauce pan and set over medium heat.  Add sweet potatoes and onions and cook for 15 minutes stirring often, until onions are soft and just on the verge of turning brown.  Add curry paste to potato/onion mixture and increase heat to high.  Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes to cook paste and allow it to become fragrant.  Add coconut milk to mixture and blend well.  Add bouillon to 1 cup water and mix well, add water mixture plus remaining 4 cups water to pot and blend well.  Bring to a boil, stir well.  Set aside to cool a little, before blending. Prepare Thai pesto.

Thai Pesto Ingredients:
Makes about 2 cups (1/2 to serve with soup, 1/2 to toss with pasta, use in a wrap, or sprinkle on a salad!)

• 200 g raw almonds
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 inches fresh ginger, peel removed
• 1-2 hot chili peppers, chopped
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp organic coconut sugar

For the Thai pesto, add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until evenly chopped.

To blend soup, use hand blender (although you could use a blender as well, but I found it easier with hand blender), insert hand blender into the pot of soup and blend until smoothy.  Return to stove and heat gently over medium high heat, stirring frequently.

To serve, ladle into serving bowls (it’s always better if the bowls are pre-heated with hot water or in the oven). Top with a generous spoonful of the Thai Pesto.

Enjoy!!!