Sweet Potato Curry Soup

I can't believe I'm posting another recipe so soon, but I had a couple requests for this one after I mentioned on facebook how fantastic it is. I have to say, I'm embarrassed by how easy it is. It's hardly a recipe, really.

Originally I wanted to make pumpkin curry soup but my hippie grocery store was out of organic canned pumpkin, so I went with sweet potato instead. I was a little disconcerted by how similar the canned sweet potato was to Sam's sweet potato baby food, but I soldiered on. You could also use freshly cooked and mashed squash, pumpkin, or sweet potato in this. If you do, leave the veggies a little chunkier, as I think it'll add some interesting texture. Or, contrarily, throw the whole shebang in the blender when it's done cooking for a bisque.

Sweet Potato Curry Soup
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 celery stalks, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
1 T olive oil
1 T salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1-2 T curry powder (use hot if you lik-a the spice, use more if you lik-a the flavor)
32 ounces chicken stock (veggie would be fine, too)
2 15-ounce cans sweet potato mash, or pumpkin, or whatevs
1 15-ounce can coconut milk (don't use light, please!)

Saute the onion, celery, and carrot in the olive oil over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add cumin, coriander and curry and stir well, cooking for another minute. The add about half of the stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about five minutes.

In the stoneware of a slow cooker OR in a large pot mix the remaining stock and the sweet potato. Add the mixture of onions, carrots and celery and stir together well. I cooked this in my slow cooker for 2 hours on high and it was pretty well cooked (carrots not too firm, etc.) I would guess that about 45 minutes worth of simmering on the stove would be about the same. Before serving, remove from heat/turn off slow cooker and stir in the coconut milk.

Kale, Summer Sausage, and White Bean Soup

I don't know about you, but there's nothing I want more when it's 90 degrees outside and 100% humidity than a nice, steaming hot bowl of soup. Mmm. Refreshing!

So, this wasn't the ideal recipe for this time of year, but the planets aligned and I ended up getting some yummy summer sausage at a local store and I remembered this recipe that I had been wanting to try for a while. Here's my kind of haphazard recipe:

1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 ring summer sausage, sliced into rounds about 1/2 inch wide
Two bunches of kale, chopped or torn into pieces
1 can white beans (I used great northern), drained
1 T salt (but I like things salty, so perhaps this should read to taste)
1 t pepper
1 T fresh dill or sage, chopped

Chuck it all in a slow cooker. I cooked it on low for about 5 hours and it was perfect. Sorry there's no picture! We ate it all up too quickly.