I know Thanksgiving was a week ago and any leftovers you had are long gone, but this leftover creation is just too good not to share!  By Sunday, my Mom – who is the queen of not wasting food – had had enough of Thanksgiving leftovers and was about to toss out some plain cooked sweet potatoes.  Good thing I intervened!  I had been planning on making a sweet potato chili of sorts that night, so figured I could re-purpose them somehow.  My mom also gave me her immersion blender the night before when I mentioned wanting one for Christmas – score!  So on my drive home, I had a bright idea – since the sweet potatoes were cooked (read: almost mushy) and I was the proud new owner of an immersion blender, why not make a coconut curry sweet potato bisque of sorts instead?

On my way into town, I stopped at the grocery store, googled my vision, and quickly settled on this recipe: Curried Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Milk.  Of course, I modified it, but I needed a base from which to build.

I doubled the recipe and baked a few more sweet potatoes while I was cleaning that late afternoon.  I also had an acorn squash that had been sitting on my counter for longer than I’d like to admit, so I decided to throw that into the oven too.  By the time I was ready to make the soup, the sweet potatoes and squash were cooked through and cooled slightly.

I failed as a blogger and didn’t take photos of the process, but did manage to take one of the final product:

The soup came together very easily and with minimal effort.  Wyatt was my sous-chef and helped me decide what spices and how much we needed (lots of taste-testing in this one).  I also learned that he’s an excellent veggie-chopper – the salad that we served the soup with had some teeny-tiny red peppers and green onions, which I love but am always too lazy to chop so fine!  These are clearly traits one looks for in a partner.  We ate the soup with some crusty bread and the salad while sitting on the couch – three remotes is the making of a romantic ambiance.

Made with leftovers or not, this soup is definitely worth whipping up this weekend!  It’s one of those soups that gets better with age – I’ve been eating leftovers all week and the flavors really melded.  Enjoy!

Coconut Curry Sweet Potato Soup
Adapted from About.com
Makes ~8 servings (freezes well)

5 medium sweet potatoes, baked or roasted
1 acorn squash, roasted
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
Olive Oil
2 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp tumeric
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
~1 32 oz container veggie or chicken broth
2 14 oz cans light coconut milk
plain greek yogurt, sriracha hot sauce, and crusty bread (for serving)

1.  Saute onion and garlic in some olive oil for ~ 5 min, until translucent
2.  Add spices and stir constantly for ~30 seconds.  Remove from heat.
3.  Scoop the sweet potatoes and squash from their flesh into the pot and coat with the onion and spice mixture.  Add the broth and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for ~15-30 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.
4.  Using a food processor or immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth.
5.  Add coconut milk and stir well.  Simmer for ~5-10 mins.  Taste and adjust spices as needed.
6.  Serve with a dollop of plain greek yogurt and some sriracha hot sauce as desired. Enjoy with crusty bread!

How did you use your Thanksgiving leftovers?