Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Colourful, creamy, just a little spicy and packed full of goodness - this soup is easy to prepare and tastes delicious.
Yum yum...it's time for a nice new recipe. Now I'm not a massive fan of cooking. Baking I love (probably because I have a massive sweet tooth!) but cooking has always been a bit of a chore. Having said that, when I'm eager to try something new, I can throw myself into the task, and I get a real sense of achievement out of creating something delicious.
Today's recipe is my adapted version of one I was given by an Ayurvedic Practitioner named Sharon who I work with at Ayurveda Lifestyle in Misterton, a cute little countryside town near Doncaster. Sharon and her chef/yoga teacher, Jane, provide delicious meals for her patients when they stay for week long detoxification retreats called Panchakarma. I give massages at these retreats and am lucky enough to be provided with an absolutely amazing meal each day. I'm always blown away by the delicious flavours. The meals are all vegetarian and packed full of wholesome veggies.
The recipe I'm making today is one that I'd smelled being cooked before but had never actually tried so I was excited to give it a go myself if a little intimidated by trying to live up to Jane's amazing skill! Hearty sweet potato, a wonderful combination of ginger, garlic and lemongrass, and spinach to provide a wholesome vitamin and mineral fix. This soup smells and tastes great.
Here's what you'll need:
2 medium sized sweet potatoes
1 bag of spinach
1 large red onion
1 stick of lemongrass
1 clove of garlic
3cm long piece of fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon of wheatgrass (optional)
1 teaspoon of stock
1 litre of water
1 lime (for juice)
Drop of olive oil
Method:
1) Finely chop up the onion, garlic, lemongrass and ginger and saut é in a drop of olive oil a pan on low heat for about 10 minutes or until the onions are soft.
2) Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into small pieces and add to the pan along with the water and stock.
3) Cover the pan and simmer for about 20 minutes until the sweet potato is soft.
4) Add spinach and juice of one lime to a blender and blend until soft. I'm not sure if my blender is just not good enough or not but I found it difficult to bled spinach on its own. I found that adding a spoon or two of liquid from the pan helped to blend more easily. I think you could probably also blend everything together at he end.
5) When sweet potato has softened, remove from the heat and blend together with the spinach and lime.
6) Add half a teaspoon of wheatgrass if you'd like a protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, calcium and magnesium boost.
Have a go - try out the recipe and see how you get on. I'd love to hear your comments - did you like it? Is there something you'd add or remove from the recipe? You can e-mail me at info@clairetaylormassage.co.uk or comment on my facebook page.
