Curried Sweet Potato & Wild Rice Soup

We did it!! We purchased a homestead, and moved in! We installed a wood stove last weekend (thanks Dad), and it has added immense joy and much needed heat to take the edge off of these blustery days. The barn is lovely, and my daughter and I can't help but wander through the large wooden doors and into the grassy pasture in the evenings. She laughs as she runs through the tall grass, her curly locks bouncing in and out of sight as she goes. Life is pleasant.

Of coarse I just want to stay in and cook in our new kitchen. I've painted the dinning room a color called 'roasted beet', and I am in love with dinner time, and all of us seated around our table in our beet red room. It's cozy, sweet, and ours! One of the first things I cooked in our new kitchen was soup. A creamy, curried soup with sweet potatoes and wild rice. The spices in the curry were fragrant and warming. The wild rice, sweet potatoes, and coconut milk all had a presence in the soup, their flavors balancing into a delicious pot of soup!


Curried Sweet Potato & Wild Rice Soup

1 cup wild rice
4 Tbls butter

1 small onion, chopped
1 medium leek, cleaned and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled & chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large sweet potatoes

1 Tbls curry powder spice blend
1 tsp dried thyme
1 can coconut mik
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
 sea salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

In a medium saucepan add about 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the wild rice, reduce the heat to a simmer, and allow the wild rice to cook until it starts to split open. This will take a little while, maybe 20 minutes or so. Keep an eye on the liquid, making sure there is always liquid in the pot. It is fine to have liquid remaining as it is very tasty and can be used in the soup as a replacement for some of the stock. At this point, turn off the heat, leaving the wild rice and any remaining liquid in the pan, and set aside.

In a large stock pot over high heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, leek, celery and carrots and saute until the onions begin to become translucent. Add the garlic, curry powder and thyme and saute a few minutes more- to toast up the spices and cook the garlic a bit- be careful not to over- brown. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir in the sweet potatoes, the wild rice and the stock. Allow to simmer together for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes begin to soften.

Turn the heat down to low. Add the coconut milk and give the soup a taste. Add a hearty dose of black pepper and sea salt. At this point the soup should be creamy, slightly thick and hearty, and the flavors should all be present. If you like more curry flavor, add more curry. This recipe keeps if fairly subtle. A few add-ins I was thinking about were chopped apples, added when the sweet potatoes are added. You could also substitute a variety of winter squashes for the sweet potato. Belly up!!