Let’s pause and talk about the fact that when my parents visited over the holidays, my mom brought her Le Creuset dutch oven to give to me because it’s too heavy for her to use now.
That is all. Just look at it. Does it make you as happy as it makes me? I thought so. You’re welcome.
Moving on now. It’s definitely been soup weather around here. It’s actually been warming up slightly this week (65 today!), but the lack of sunlight in our apartment still makes it pretty chilly inside and I’m craving something that’ll warm me up.
One of my favorite packaged soups used to be Trader Joe’s Sweet Potato Bisque. Anyone try it? It’s goooooood. And so easy. I used to get it when I was in a pinch, but I honestly don’t love all the ingredients anymore. There’s added sugar (um.. isn’t sweet potato already sweet? Hence the name?) and some harmful awful oils like canola oil “and/or” sunflower oil “and/or” safflower oil. Hmmm. Okay. Which is it? It’s one of my pet peeves when products have ingredients listed with “and/or” on it. So extremely vague. I wouldn’t eat any of those oils, but I’ve seen some products that say something like, “coconut oil and/or canola oil.” Wtf. Do they really want us to consider if they used the oil that’s dirt cheap, or the one that’s 3-4x more expensive and less processed…?? It’s just another thing that confuses the consumer. Hiss. End of rant.
So I make my own now with Japanese sweet potatoes, which are my favorite kind. They have white flesh and are deliciously sweet. Obviously, you can use whatever kind you have.
This is another recipe that’s significantly easier if you have an immersion blender. Go get one already, will ya? It’s the cost of 2 fancy drinks at a bar. Or 4 Starbucks drinks. Whatever, it’s cheap and it’s worth it.
The addition of coconut milk at the end makes it extra creamy and wonderful.
It’s pretty dang good if I do say so myself (better than the boxed kind, go figure), but I’ll probably add some pork sausages or chopped bacon in it when I reheat what’s leftover. And maybe some mushrooms? or raw cheese? AH, so many options! Make a giant batch and freeze it for those cold winter nights!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp bacon fat or coconut oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 small sweet potatoes (or 2-3 large), cubed
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (omit for AIP)
- 1/2 tsp cumin (omit for AIP)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 2 cups bone broth or chicken broth
- 2/3 cup full-fat coconut milk
- Salt & pepper, to taste (omit pepper for AIP)
Instructions
- In a big saucepan or a dutch oven, heat bacon fat or coconut oil over medium high heat.
- Add the onion with salt and pepper, and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the carrot, celery, and sweet potato cubes and stir for about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, rosemary, paprika, cumin, and cinnamon and cook for another minute.
- Pour in the bone or chicken broth and sprinkle with more salt and pepper.
- Cover and crank the heat up to high until the mixture starts boiling.
- Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender) to blend until smooth.
- Stir in the coconut milk.
- Taste the bisque and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
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