Looking out the window, small snowflakes fall to the ground and join the thousand others that have attached themselves to the cold sidewalk. We should have a good 5-8 inches before the day is over.
The air is crisp — the sky white. Beauty at its best.
And here to make matters even better is the perfect soup. Really. I wouldn’t lie to you. This soup is much better than the squash soup I’ve made in the past and it’s vegan, paleo and gluten free. Yes! The sweet potatoes give it a wonderfully sweet taste. No added sugar. You just have to try it.
You will need just a few ingredients.
And it’s so easy to put this soup together. One of the “hardest” parts is slicing and chopping the leeks.
These will be put in a large pot (make sure you read all the directions below as I’m giving you a very shorthand account of the steps you’ll be taking – just the major ones).
The second hardest part? Peeling your sweet potatoes and cutting or chopping them into small bite sized pieces.
Then you’ll be adding the sweet potatoes to the pot along with a few other things …
Oh, this leafy vegetable (called watercress) was something I had never tried before. Don’t be afraid of it though if you’ve never tried it. Although it tastes bitter when eaten by itself (of course I had to try it), it blends beautifully with the sweet potatoes and has no bitter taste at all when cooked. (Some people describe the taste of watercress as being peppery and tangy but I didn’t get that flavor.)
Look at this beautiful soup that’s coming along so well …
Okay so — you’re going to try it, right? I strongly encourage you to try it. This soup is chock full of vitamins. Go on — search it out and see for yourself. Check out the nutrition in the sweet potatoes and the watercress. Can something this healthy be so good? Yes!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 3 large Leeks, white & palest green parts only, chopped and rinsed well
- 3 large Sweet Potatoes, peeled and diced (original recipe calls for 4 but mine were pretty big so I used 3)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 Vegetable Bouillon Cubes
- 1 cup packed Watercress leaves, chopped loosely
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups Light Coconut Milk
- Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Directions
- Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot.
- Add the leeks and saute over medium heat, covered, until they begin to turn golden. Stir occasionally.
- Add the sweet potatoes, bay leaf, bouillon cubes and enough water to cover everything.
- Bring the soup to a gentle simmer, covered, until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. (Prick a fork through a few of the potatoes to make sure they are tender.)
- Mash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot with a fork then stir those pieces back into the soup to thicken it.
- Add the watercress leaves and coconut milk then simmer over very low heat for 10 minutes longer.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove the pot from the heat and set aside, covered, for an hour or two before serving. Â (You can also make this soup the day before as it tastes even better the more it is allowed to blend together. Make sure you refrigerate it.)
- Add the parsley right before serving and heat the soup through one more time.
I adapted the original recipe by using coconut milk instead of rice milk as it makes it more paleo friendly. Thanks to Kahakai Kitchen for this recipe.
I served this with a side salad and paleo muffins.
If you like sweet potatoes, you will definitely enjoy this soup.
