Flu Fighting Soup

I made this soup a couple of weeks ago when we all were healthy and thought this soup would be as good for fighting a cold as chicken noodle soup, plus it is just plain yummy. The sweet potatoes are chalk full of Vitamin C, the spice clears out your sinus, and the ginger settles your stomach, plus a bunch of other good for you stuff in there. Well, now our house has finally caught the bug that has been going around so I'm planning on whipping up a batch. I'll have to let you know how it works. The only thing I would change is I only added one teaspoon of the curry paste and it was still too spicy for the kids, so I would add that at the end according to individual taste. Here's to staying healthy!



Spicy Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Makes: 4 servings

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 3 large potatoes), rinsed
1 T vegetable oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
1- 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (I was overly generous with my piece, but I like ginger)
1 T red curry paste (found in the international section of markets)
1 15-oz can unsweetened coconut milk
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 1/2 T lemon juice
1 t salt
1 T sesame oil
1/2 cup fresh cilantro sprigs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the sweet potatoes on an oven rack and bake for 50 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven and let cool. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion and ginger until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk and broth and gently bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Skin the potatoes and cut into 1" chunks. Add the potatoes to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and salt. Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Drizzle the sesame oil evenly over the servings. Garnish with the cilantro.