Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

Sam, my good college friend, is a really great cook. When we lived in the same building, I definitely enjoyed the meals she shared with me. In our senior year of college, some us decided to get together to cook Thanksgiving dinner. It was so impressive to see Sam make rolls from scratch, without the aid of a food processor or mixer. She is kitchen goddess, eats healthy, experiments, and is not afraid of butter. My kind of cook.

We were talking and she shared with me this great soup recipe, perfect for a cold winter's night. It is so simple and delicious. The soup was awesome and during this process, I discovered that roasted sweet potatoes are absolutely divine. Roasted sweet potatoes are what healthy candy should be. They taste amazing and I'm going to include them in my diet more often.

Makes 4 servings
Cooking Time: 30 minutes (oven time), 20 minutes stove

Ingredients
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3/4 lb sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 small onion, cut into 8 wedges
- 1 T olive oil
- 4 cups water
- 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degree.

Toss carrots, sweet potato, and onion in olive oil and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender and just beginning to brown, stirring after 15 minutes.

Place vegetables, water, and ginger in large pot over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Use immersion blender to puree soup, otherwise use a blender.

Sam's Suggestions
The original recipe called for stock but Sam omitted it, as did I, and used water instead, making it much healthier by significantly reducing the salt content. Without the stock, this recipe has more than enough flavor probably because the vegetables cook in the water for a bit. I ended up using 3/4 tsp salt, using 1/4 tsp increments to get it right. You may find that you need more or less. I was a bit shocked to find that the original recipe called for 1/4 tsp salt. I generally find that most recipes that use stock don't need additional salt.

She also omitted the cranberry relish, which I did as well. It tastes darn good without it and reduces another cooking step, which is always a winner for me!

I bet this soup would go so well with corn muffins.

Thanks for sharing.