Sweet Potato, Carrot & Cumin Soup

Last year, I got hoodwinked into standing in for a friend, for a colleague’s business one evening. The role was to sell soups at the Farmer’s Market in Sammamish through Jerry Baxter’s company, Got Soup?

It was a really, really warm Spring day and I thought it was ludicrous trying to sell soup. It was in fact 950 ml (1 quart) of frozen soup that you take home and use for a quick meal. Each tub cost $10 a shot (at that moment in time). I think we sold close to 50 containers over a period of 2-3 hours!!! It’s a money making business, and all due respect goes to Jerry, who's finally doing what he always wanted to.

One of the soups we were selling that day was sweet potato and cumin. It’s a delicious combination. I made up my recipe below using sweet potato (yam) and carrots. The resulting soup is very rich, thick and luscious. There’s no distinguishable flavor from the sweet potato (yam) or carrots, but what you do taste is the light sweetness, which is complemented by the mild curry flavor from the infused cumin. I’d definitely make it again come Winter time, but eating it at 31°C (88°F) is not a good idea!


SWEET POTATO, CARROT & CUMIN SOUP
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
800 g (1 ¾ lb) sweet potato, skin on, roughly chopped
800 g (1 ¾ lb) carrots, skin on, roughly chopped
7 g (1 ½ t) better than bouillon* stock paste, or ½-1 stock cube
1 T cumin seeds, roughly bashed with a pestle and mortar or ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

* Better than bouillon is a concentrated paste, which you add water to, to make a stock. If this is not available, use stock cubes or ready-made stock instead of water in step 2.

Method
1. Place all of the ingredient into a large sauce pan.

2. Place enough boiling water to cover all the sweet potato and carrots and bring the water to a boil.

3. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the ingredients are fork tender.

4. With the use of an hand-blender (immersion liquidizer), blitz until smooth. Add more water to thin out the soup to the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm, enjoy!