Sweet Madras Soup

I don’t know where you guys are, but I’m in Ottawa, and it’s been freaking freezing here over the past couple of days. The solution? You guessed it, soup! I took the opportunity to explore my growing my sneaky-bean streak (otherwise known as subtly adding beans to recipes for increased nutrition, texture  and protein, without being overly beany about it). This soup’s perfect for the subversive bean: it’s thick, hearty and full of flavour. Put on your favourite album and get cooking.

Roasted pine nuts are an interesting addition to this dish, along with some fresh, crusty bread.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp madras curry paste
• 1 15 oz can white kidney beans, well-rinsed (or soak dry beans overnight)
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 cups veggie broth (I used some of my first batch of homemade veggie broth – I’ll be sure to post that how-to soon)
• 2-3 cups water
• 1 cup coconut milk (or almond milk)
• salt and pepper to taste

Add the onion to the oil, which you’ve heated over medium heat in a large pot. Once the onion’s translucent, add the curry paste and stir, then add the beans and sweet potatoes. Stir around until it’s all well-coated, then add the veggie broth. Cover, bring to a simmer and let it sit for about 20 minutes – until the sweet potatoes and beans are soft. Whip out your immersion blender or carefully spoon the mixture into your blender (in batches, not all at once!) and blend. If you want to be cutesy about it, spoon out a few chunks of sweet potato before you blend, so that you can add them back in once the rest is nice and smooth. This is when you will likely need to add the water – this stuff gets pretty thick. Use as much as you need to get it to the desired consistency, then add the “milk”, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

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