Sweet potato, carrot, coriander and coconut soup

posted by Kay Dekker <kay@quickhacks.co.uk>

Serves 6-8, depending on appetite.

Vegan.

Easy. Takes <1 hour.

Take ye:

• 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes
• 4 medium carrots
• 1 medium onion (cooking, rather than salad)
• 2 vegetable stock cubes (Oxo are OK, Knorr better, but if you can find a no-MSG veg stock powder go for that)
• 1 level tsp powdered coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp solid creamed coconut
• salt, pepper, and brown sugar.

Peel the veg. Cut into small chunks and place in large (at least 4 pt) soup pot or pan. Cover with water, and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the veg are tender.

Remove from heat. Squidge the veg with a potato masher (I think blending would make this soup too isotropic, so unless you like very smooth soup, don't blend) or fork until squodged. Add water sufficient to turn the puree into a good thick soup. Bring back to a gentle boil. Crumble in the stock cubes, or dissolve them in a little warm water and add that (this works better with some of the stickier veg stock powders). Add the coriander, and simmer gently for about 20 minutes to let the flavours mix. Thin with water if it gets too thick.

Just before serving, stir in the creamed coconut, and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and sugar - the soup should be just perceptibly on the sweet side of savoury, but not too much, so if you're using sweetish carrots you'll need little or no sugar. If you like coriander, you could use 2 tsp of it, or even more, but start gently.