Kath Eats Good Food

I'm guessing that the majority of food bloggers have come across Kath Eats Real Food, a great inspirational, informative and entertaining look at what blogger and student of nutrition, Kath eats each meal. She has an affinity for kale much like mine, so I was excited to see her recently post a soup recipe that involved the all-mighty leafy green and quite a few other ingredients that I happen to love: sweet potato, coconut and peanuts. She said the soup was good -- that it was the best soup she's made, and while I can't attest to that; it's certainly become the best soup I've ever made. Kath, you are a genius of soup!

To make mine vegan and to use what I had on hand, I had to change things up slightly. To read Kath's original recipe, click here.

But here's what I did:

Kath's Nutty Vanilla Sweet Potato Soup (gluten-free, dairy-free)

serves 4 for dinner

2 lbs of sweet potato peeled and cooked in the microwave until tender (about 7 minutes)
1 tbs olive oil
1 can of coconut milk
2 cups of water
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 cups of kale, trimmed and chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup raisins
salted peanuts (I used the delicious BBQ ones pictured below) for garnish (optional)
unsweetened shredded coconut for garnish (optional)

After microwaving the potatoes, place a large saucepan over medium heat and coat bottom lightly with olive oil. Add potatoes and cook until lightly browned. Add the coconut milk, water, curry, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Then, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for thirty minutes. Use an immersion blender to blend the mixture to desired consistency (be careful because the soup will be hot and can splatter). Then add the kale, raisins, and vanilla and let simmer another ten minutes before serving. Garnish with coconut and peanuts and you'll find yourself in soup heaven.

That furry, blurry thing to the right of the peanuts is Henry's snoopy nose.