I say this every year, but I’m not into making resolutions. You don’t need it to be January to bring change to your life, it can be in any month, at any time. Change that truly comes from within has no schedule, when it wants to happen, it will happen.
With that said, I think December and January are good times to reflect. Reflect on the past year and change and bring up things from that messy soup of memories and look at what you found in there. Were you happy with all the things that happened last year? Were there things you can see, now, from more of the outside, you want to not repeat or move away from?
For Christmas, I finally got the book Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook, that I’ve been eyeing for quite a while. I devoured it one day and it really renewed my desire to waste less in my kitchen.
When I’m cooking or meal planning, thinking about what to use first or use up is now at the forefront of my mind. What do I need to use before it goes bad and what kind of creation can I make from it?
This soup came from a half-used can of chipotles in adobo. It’s not a staple in my kitchen, so it felt important to make something with the chipotles sooner rather than later. With the cool weather and rain, soup’s still on my mind, so decided to make a sweet potato soup. Sweet potatoes are great at handling and balancing out the smoky heat chipotle brings.
To make this more of an entree soup, I added in some white beans. This gives it more fiber and a little more satiety. I chose to roast the sweet potatoes before blending them up, because that unlocks more flavor than just baking it whole, and it’s a little faster.
For a little bit a texture and added healthy fats, I sprinkled hemp seeds on top. If you’ve got that in your pantry already, great! If not, substitute it another seed you’ve got on hand, or throw a dollop of organic yogurt on top, whatever you’ve already got on hand.
Wasting less in the kitchen is back on my mind so far this year. Rather than a resolution, I feel like it’s more like an awareness that’s at the front of my mind again. Has something moved up to the forefront of your awareness after some holiday quiet?
Ingredients
- 2-3 large sweet potatoes (larger than 6"), peeled and roughly cubed
- 1-2 tsp garlic powder
- 1-2 tsp paprika
- olive oil, for roasting
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 can chipotles in adobo sauce
- 2 cups cooked Great Northern beans, rinsed
- 1 quart of low-sodium vegetable stock
- hemp seeds, for garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 475.
In a foil-line baking sheet, arrange cubed sweet potatoes in a single layer and lightly sprinkle them with garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika and olive oil. Roast in oven for 15-25 minutes, until fork tender.
If using a blender, in batches combine roasted sweet potatoes with stock, beans and chipotles in adobo sauce (add the chiles and sauce, not just chiles) and blend until soup is a smooth consistency. You may have to add a little bit of water to make it as smooth as you like.
If using a hand/immersion blender, combine roasted sweet potatoes, stock, beans and chipotles with adobo in a large stock pot and blend until smooth. Again, you may have to add a little bit of water to get a super smooth consistency.
Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Serve in bowls and sprinkle hemp seeds on top.
Notes
You can store the other half of the chipotles in adobo in a freezer safe container and freeze until you make this soup again or have another need for chipotles in adobo.