Rainy Day Curried Sweet Potato Soup with Almonds, Raisins, and Kefir

I apologize for taking so long between posts, a lot of exciting things are happening in my life leaving little time for cooking elaborate meals. Unfortunately, it feels like I have been living off of cantaloupe and almonds for weeks now instead of real nourishing foods. AS for the big life changes coming up, I will let you in on all that very shortly. 

Yesterday, I spent a lovely day hiking with the sun shinning and lots of soul sharing with one of my best friends but today the rains are back and with it a need for some wholesome, comforting sustenance, basically, not ice cream, which I do often associate with wholesome, comforting sustenance!

What is better on a rainy day than a bowl of lightly spiced and creamy soup that is packed with antioxidants like beta carotene and vitamin c as well as anti inflammatory and blood-sugar regulating nutrients?! Plus adding kefir into the equation adds fermented probiotics while still being friendly to those with lactose intolerance. 

Kefir is a fermented milk product that is loaded with vitamin B12, calcium, magnesium, vitamin K2, biotin, folate, enzymes and probiotics. Kefir boosts immunity, fights candida overgrowth, builds bone strength, supports digestions, improves allergies, heals skin, and potentially fights cancer. Kefir is packed with 10 to 34 types of probiotics and unlike other forms of probiotics which just add good bacteria to your gut, kefir aggressively attacks pathogens and bad bacteria making it a very powerful food. Kefir can be made with milk, coconut milk, or water, when purchasing commercial kefir just be cognizant of the amount of sugar contained and try to purchase the plain variety as opposed to all those lovely flavor combos. 

As you can tell, I am a big fan, give it a try and enjoy this soup as well! 

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Curried Sweet Potato Soup with Almonds, Raisins, and Kefir

3 Sweet Potatoes, Peeled and Cubed

2 Carrots, chopped

1 Onion, Sliced

2 Large Garlic Cloves, chopped

2 tbs Olive Oil

2 tbs Yellow Curry Powder

1 tbs Red Curry Paste

1 tbs Honey

1 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tbs Miso Paste

2 cups Hot Water

1/4 cup Kefir

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to Taste

Raw Almonds, Raisins, and Chives to Garnish

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, sweet potatoes and carrots, cooking until the onions are softened. Add the curry powder and paste, cooking for another minute until fragrant. Dissolve the miso in 2 cups of hot water, add to the pot along with the honey and apple cider vinegar. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. 

Puree the soup in a blender, food processor or with an immersion blender until smooth, adding additional water until your desired consistency. Return to the pot and add the kefir and salt to taste. 

Ladle into bowls and top with a drizzle of kefir, chopped almonds, raisins and chives. Enjoy and healthy eating!

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Vegan Red Pepper and Chickpea Coconut Curry with Carrot Rice

Some days you just want your lips to tingle and to feel the heat of a spicy curry in your belly. Unfortunately there are no Thai or Indian restaurants where I live so I am left to experiment with coconut milk curry pastes and vegetables. 

Curry always seems like a simple dish, however, the flavor profile is complex and achieving the right amount of heat is important. Of course you can always just use some curry paste and coconut milk and call it a day but I figured a little more flavor was needed and added a dash of soy sauce, a squeeze of lime juice and a drop of apple cider vinegar. 

I did not have wild rice in the house and wanted to try a little something different with the base. Rice is awesome because it soaks up the flavors of the curry and offsets the heat but I had grand visions of raw carrot noodles; crunchy and sweet.  The carrot noodles were a complete fail, how does one make a carrot noodle? I tried my fancy Kitchenaid spiralizer but the carrots were too small and I wound up with slivers of carrots and my handheld couldn't grip the carrot well enough to get a noodle either so I used the carrot slivers which I call rice even though it technically wasn't. Next time I will just go ahead and rice the carrots and skip all that crazy mess. 

As you can tell, the entire meal was an experiment and a work in progress - the result was a delicious curry and with a few tweaks to the base would be an awesome week night meal. 

Red pepper and Chickpea Coconut Curry with Carrot Rice

Serves 2

1 Onion, sliced

1 Red pepper, Sliced

1 cup Sprouted Chickpeas

3 cloves of Garlic, chopped

1 in of ginger, minced

4 Collard Green Leaves, chiffonade 

2 tbs Olive Oil

2 tbs Curry Paste (Red or Green)

1 cup Coconut Milk

1/2 cup Water

Juice from 1/2 of a Lime

1 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tsp Soy Sauce/Tamari

4 Carrots, shredded 

Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add the sliced Onion and Red Pepper, cooking until they begin to soften. Add the garlic, ginger and chickpeas to the pan, cooking for another minute before adding the curry paste. Saute the curry paste and vegetables for 1-2 minutes before adding the coconut milk, water, lime juice, soy sauce, and vinegar. Add the collard greens, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, shred the carrots in your food processor until  a rice like consistence is created, you could use cauliflower of broccoli for this as well. Divide the carrot between 2 plates and top with the curry. 

Enjoy and healthy eating!

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