Curried Sweet Potato Soup

 from River Cottage Veg Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Bloomsbury, 2011

There’s nothing like soup for a family meal. It’s the speed of knocking it up from scratch or even getting it out of the fridge. That’s the key. What else is so quick? Even pasta takes longer. The other advantage over pasta is that it doesn’t matter if the people you’re feeding all need to eat at different times. Pasta on the whole needs to be eaten immediately. Soup reheats beautifully. Two plus points already, but it doesn't stop there. Soup also gives you an unrivalled opportunity to pack in one, two, or even three of those relentless five-a-day. And it's one of those things you can knock together without a recipe and often with the stuff you happen to have lying about the house, even the slightly past their best bits.

So, over the years, my soup repertoire has grown and I am constantly searching for others to address the need. The current staples are leek and potato (of course), lentil (of course), minestrone (big effort, but big value as it's just about the only form in which Marianne will eat big chunks of veg and Livia will eat peas), sweet potato and red pepper (with a garnish of toasted chorizo or feta cheese). All these go down well with everyone, but after that the unity shatters. Marianne can't even think about eating the strings of onion in French onion soup (though she's eat the toasted gruyere-covered French bread). She loves chorizo and potato soup, but it's too meaty for Els and too spicy for Liv, and besides, there are no vegetables in it beside the potato, so it really doesn't tick all my soup boxes. I also make a fabulous smoked fish and fennel chowder, but that's definitely only for adults.

So I'm on a constant quest to discover more soups, delicious, nourishing soups that everyone will enjoy. Vegetable soups fit with the way we eat, far better than any other vegetable-based meals. This one leapt out at me from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's new book: curried sweet potato. Lots of ingredients but perfectly straightforward method. Also, the red pepper and sweet potato soup I make is such a huge success with everyone, that this seemed like a natural extension. Just pushing the envelope a little bit... 

I was going to make it on Wednesday (quiet day at home with no after-school activities) to eat on Thursday (busy day out with child-ferrying after school), but looking at the method (not too much chopping required, the joy of whizzed soups) I thought I wouldn't bother. And sure enough it took about half an hour and minimal effort to put together. Oh, and it smelled heavenly! 

I though the khaki colour might spook the kids, but they didn't even mention it. Marianne took one look at said "Why did you put green bits in it. Do I have to eat the green bits?" She wasn't best pleased by my reaction, but ate it pretty happily in the end. I had worried that Livia too might have a problem with it. She's not wild about spiciness. But I'd played it safe and only put one chili in it, and the coconut milk and yogurt must have done their soothing work too, because she said it wasn't too spicy and cleaned her bowl pretty thoroughly. Elspeth, on the other hand, came up trumps. "It's the best soup EVER!" she said. "Can I have some more. How much do I have to leave for you and Dad?" Ha! Triumph! Yet more triumph later, when Robert and I had ours. "It's the essence of curry in a soup," he said, diving into his second bowlful. Rich, spicy, creamy, with a little sharp lime juice and the aromatic taste of coriander floating around the edges. By bedtime, Robert and Elspeth were fighting over who would get to have the solitary helping that was left for lunch. Better make a double quantity next time.

Here it is in one of our beautiful bowls made for us by www.wemakepots.com