Recipe: Sweet Potato Apple Curry Soup

Nothing beats sneaking in a wintertime ride and coming back home to something warm. What’s on the menu? Soup! Hearty, wholesome, nourishing, warm soup. It’s that time of year when you finish a ride with friends and quickly change out of that damp kit into some warm fleece, jeans, a touque, and a sweater (clearly I’m Canadian, but this can also apply to you softer California types who think 60 Fahrenheit is freezing!).

Soup can make a quality meal paired with a nice whole grain baguette and/or lean protein on the side, or it can even serve as a starter to a meal or a healthy snack. The thing I love about soup is that just about anyone can feel quite accomplished in the kitchen after making a soup. It doesn’t take a seasoned pro to put amazing soup on the table. Trust me. Generally, if you have a few basics on hand like broth, garlic, onion, and ginger, as well as a few basic spices (salt, pepper, curry, chili powder, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, etc.) and maybe a few limes and lemons, you can pull off some good flavors.

Sweet potatoes and potatoes are my favorite things to have on hand at this time of year, as well as beets, all of which make for amazing soups. Add a blender, and voila, your soup goes from chunky to creamy. Trust me, you won’t believe you made it. Neither will your friends.

Sweet Potato Apple Curry Soup

Serves 3

Ingredients

• 3 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 large apple (or 1 1/4 cups of applesauce)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups chicken broth or water

Instructions

Peel and cube both the apple and sweet potatoes. Set aside.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger, nutmeg, curry powder, salt, and pepper and cook until toasted, about 1 minute. Add sweet potatoes and chicken broth; cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and add apples. The broth should just cover the potatoes; they may even stick out a bit. Cover and simmer until the sweet potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Puree soup in a blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

This pairs very well with a blackened white fish or salmon with a lime drizzle on top.

Nutrition Info
(entire recipe)

730 calories
119 gram carbohydrates
12 gram protein
23 grams fat

Article originally featured on Pez Cycling News

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Anne Guzman is a PCG nutritionist, a registered holistic nutritionist, and a sports nutrition consultant with a degree in kinesiology. Her passion lies in sports nutrition for endurance athletes, as well as general health and wellness. Anne raced full time on the women’s professional circuit in North America with some bouts in Europe from 2008 until 2011, and before cycling was a provincial and CIAU champion and national bronze medalist as a Varsity Freestyle Wrestler. Currently Anne works with athletes to help them reach their potential by combining their own training plans with her nutrition plans. Anne believes that many athletes undermine their intense detailed training regimes by not backing them with sound nutrition. Her personal experience as a cyclist and athlete is a great asset to her business as she understands the needs and nuances that come with the sport. Anne can be contacted through PeaksCoachingGroup.com or at info@peakscoachinggroup.com. Read more nutrition advice on her blog.

Photo credit: Taste.com.au