Roasted Sweet Potato, Lime and Chipotle Soup

This was a recipe I found recently on Epicurious and I liked it a lot. The original called for more chicken stock (4-5 cups) but I like my soup a little thicker and I didn’t want to dilute the flavor too much. It also called for 1/2 cup of cream, which I skipped, as the soup was plenty creamy without it.

Plus, a little plain yogurt on top is just as good! Well, okay — but it’s much healthier.

Roasted Sweet Potato, Lime and Chipotle Soup
3 pounds yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 bunch chopped fresh thyme
1/4 bunch chopped fresh sage
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3 cups chicken stock
4 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded or 1-2 tsp chipotle in adobo
Juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Pinch nutmeg
Cracked black pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F. Mix sweet potatoes, onions, thyme and sage in large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and salt, and toss to coat. Spoon mixture onto a baking sheet, spreading vegetables out in a single layer.

Place baking sheet in oven and roast until vegetables are caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Remove vegetables from oven and process in a blender until pureed. Slowly add chicken broth and process until smooth. I’d say, start with 2.5 cups but have up to 4 cups on hand. Add broth until you reach your desired consistency.

Pour soup into a large saucepan and add chiles (I used canned chipotle in adobo, about a teaspoon and a half), lime juice, sugar, nutmeg and pepper. Bring soup to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

If using dried chiles, remove and discard the whole chipotle chiles and adjust seasonings. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with cilantro and yogurt.

Experimental Taquitos for the Side
For fun, I made some taquitos to eat along with the soup. I really just threw it together and hoped for the best. So, here’s just a rough retelling of my creation. I took about 1/4 toasted pumpkin seeds and about 2-3 ounces goat cheese and pulsed them in the food processor until they were mixed together.

Then I combined that mix with about 1/3 of a pound cooked, ground turkey and a teaspoon of chili powder. Salt and pepper to taste. Maybe a shake or two of jalapeno Tabasco sauce to make it a bit spicy.

Halve 2 multigrain tortillas (so you have four pieces) and spread a little filling in the middle of each tortilla piece, along with a little cilantro. Roll up like tightly and brush the outside with a little canola oil, for four little taquitos.

Bake in a 425 degree oven until slightly crispy and golden — about 15 minutes. Serve with soup.

Oh and pop any filling that falls out into the soup. Excellent.