Sweet Potato Soup

Are you craving healthy? I know I am, after all of the Valentine's Day treats that were passed out last week. So much for eliminating sugar in 2013! This soup has many ingredients that help to purify and detox the body, such as garlic, ginger, turmeric, olive oil, and water. Not only is this sweet potato soup super healthy, it is also super yummy!  I enjoy eating this soup for lunch or dinner. For extra health benefits, add celery sticks to the side of the soup for dipping. For extra taste benefits, add a toasty bread to the side for dunking!

Recipe for Sweet Potato Soup 

INGREDIENTS:
3 Tbsp. of extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped small
1/8 tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. turmeric
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. of grated fresh ginger
A pinch of ground cloves
A dash of cayenne pepper
3 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

3 cups water

4 - 5 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into even-sized pieces
1 cup of baby carrots
2 Tbsp. honey

Cashew Milk (to stir in)
1/2 cup cashews
1 cup of water, at room temperature

DIRECTIONS:
Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 3 - 5 minutes. Add in spices, orange zest, and ginger and cook for 45 seconds. Add water, broth, potatoes, carrots and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and puree soup with an immersion blender.
Make the cashew milk. Put the cashews in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it becomes close to the consistency of a paste. Pour the water through the feed tube with the processor running. Add the cashew milk into a liquid measuring cup. Return the soup to very low heat, stir in the cashew milk and the honey. Mix well.
Serve soup immediately. Top with extra cashews, if desired. For dipping, consider serving with celery sticks or bread. Enjoy!

*Recipe inspired from several different sweet potato soup recipes that were found online.