Sweet Potato-Coconut Thai Curried Soup

Happy December everybody! I can't believe it's almost the end of the year already. I was going to start a slew of giveaways today, but as is most often the case, I'm a bit behind with everything in my life... so I'll have to start that tomorrow. Be on the lookout. I will be giving things away on this site as well as on frugalfamilytable.com during the next 2 weeks.

Sweet Potato-Coconut Thai Curried Soup

adapted from Jenn Cuisine

You'll need 1 red bell pepper, diced.

You'll also need ginger and garlic - 4 cloves garlic to be exact.

Mince or finely shred the garlic,

mince or grate the ginger as well - you'll want about 1-1.5 tsp ginger.

You'll also need 1 onion, diced (or grated as I did - I was on a grating kick that night!)

Add 2 Tbsp Olive Oil to a pan, then toss in the onion, ginger, garlic and red pepper. Cook until they start to soften.

Once they are mostly cooked, add curry paste.

1 Tbsp red curry paste is what I added. You can adjust for your own taste preference.

Stir in the curry paste. Let cook 1 more minute.

You'll also need 2 cups broth - chicken or vegetable.

Add that to the pan.

Stir well.

I used my hand blender to blend the soup at this point.

Still a few bits left, but that's okay.

You'll also need 4 sweet potatoes - that have been roasted and cooled enough to handle.

Peel and place into a bowl,

Mash with a fork.

Add to pan.

You'll also need 1-14 oz can coconut milk and 1-12 oz can young coconut milk (or you can just have 2 cans of either...)

Coconut milk has this delightful cream on top - be sure to open it completely as it will not pour out!

Add the coconut milk to the pan.

both cans.

Looking good...

At this point, puree completely either using a hand blender or blending in a blender in batches.

Once blended, simmer on low for a few minutes to a half an hour to let flavors blend.

I also added some salt.

and 1 tsp cumin.

Enjoy warm.

Print Recipe

Menu: Nov 21-27

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed spending time with family, if you were lucky enough to be able to do so! We got to spend the day with my husband's family (and with his father's side of the family.) The next day we go to have a luncheon with his mother's side of the family. Luckily they had chicken instead of turkey! I think one year they had lasagna... I like this mom's side of the family, they always have something the Friday after Thanksgiving and don't think turkey is a necessity that day.

I participated in my first ever shopping experience on Black Friday. I couldn't look away from the $1.49/yard fleece at JoAnn's. (This is partly due to my 30 for 30 goal of making baby blankets) I'll tell you what though, it's craziness! I'm not much of one to stand in line and wait for hours just for a good deal. We went after noon when their 25% off entire purchase coupon had expired. It wasn't as bad (we had stopped in before noon and decided it wasn't worth it) but I was still waiting in line to get the fabric cut for a while. So tell me, do you go shopping on black Friday? Or are you more like me and avoid the madness? I do like cyber Monday... I can handle staying at home and shopping! What sweet deals did you find if you went shopping on Friday?

 Monday: Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Tuesday: Herb Baked Eggs & Sweet Potato Ricotta Gnocchi (this site has tutorials on making Ricotta Gnocchi and Potato Gnocchi)

Wednesday: Ate out (on the way to my husband's parents house)

Thursday: Thanksgiving Dinner with the in-laws

Friday: Turkey Sandwiches

Saturday: Ate out (on the way back from the in-laws... it's a 6 hour drive.)

Sunday: Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Spaghetti sauce over roasted spaghetti squash (cut in half, clean out inside, roast for 30 minutes with cut sides down in a pan. Use fork to remove squash. And yes, this is not the right picture...)

Vote for the recipe you want to see next week. This week's recipe post is going to be: Sweet Potato/Coconut Thai Curried Soup.

Pear Pumpkin Soup

Every fall I have this unquenchable desire to make soup, soup and more soup. I'm always looking for great soup recipes. Of course this desire actually continues through the winter and sometimes even shows it's head in spring and summer. However, in the summer I usually push past it - soup in the summer is just too hot! I know there are cold soups, but I'm not really anxious to try it as I think my hubby would be a bit opposed to it. He tolerates eating any type of soup that is blended - including this one. However, I fully enjoyed this and would make it again tomorrow, but hubby wouldn't appreciate it very much. So since I love him, I try to limit the number of these soups I make. I think this one will be a once a year soup in our house!

Pear-Pumpkin Soup

Recipe adapted from: ItalianFoodForever.com

First, you'll need pears -2 of them to be exact. Cored and I cut a strip of skin off down the middle. You can either do the same, leave all the skin on or peel them completely. I try to leave some skin on for the added nutrition...

Roast pears in oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

You'll also need an onion. Just one.

However, it will need to be chopped.

Oh, and 3 Tbsp butter.

Gotta have the butter!

Melt the butter in a pan and toss the chopped onion in it. Cook until tender.

While the onion is cooking, get 3 cloves garlic,

peel and coarsely chop them.

Toss the garlic in with the onion and cook for 2 more minutes, or until onion is translucent and begins to brown.

Add in 3 to 3-1/2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth.

Stir it in.

Next add 1 small can pumpkin OR 1-3/4 cups home-made pumpkin puree (I did the latter.)

Toss in the roasted pears.

Blend until smooth using a hand blender or an upright blender (in batches.)

Once blended, add 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

and 1/4 tsp allspice. Just do it! Cook over low heat for 10-30 minutes.

Dish into bowls, and either serve or add 1-2 Tbsp cream. (Then stir until it swirls.) I highly suggest the cream. Makes it taste divine.

Enjoy!

Print Recipe