Roasted Sweet Potato Peanut Bisque

Roasted Sweet Potato Peanut Bisque, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

This rarely ever happens, I'm sharing with you what I had for dinner. . . tonight. Yes, only a few hours ago. I think I've done this maybe twice in my three years of blogging. I don't want to say this soup was so insanely delicious I just couldn't help myself, only because you may not agree, it may not be your cup of tea, er, bowl of soup. Because as far as soup is concerned it's more on the exotic end of the scale than the safe. It's not your garden variety chicken noodle or cream of spinach. It's sweet, smoky, salty, and rich. Exactly what I was after this evening (clearly, because here I sit writing about it)!

Roasted Sweet Potato Peanut Bisque, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

The base consists of a bit of tomato juice, lots of broth, peanut butter, and loads of salty oven roasted sweet potato. There's a bit of spicy green chile, garlic, and some sauteed onion as well. It really doesn't get much simpler either. The most taxing part, if you could even consider it to be taxing, is peeling and roasting the sweet potato. I started this soup around 7:30 and was sitting down to eat just before 8:00. You may not like it in the end, but come on, with an eet (estimated eating time) of less than half an hour, how can you not give it a try? Rachel Ray would be proud (if I cared). Plus, (yes there's more) it's incredibly healthy! In a cup and a half there are less than 300 calories and about 8 grams of protein. Lordy! There's a foodie trinity! Simple, tasty and good for you! Top it all off with a few salty roasted peanuts and plenty of freshly chopped cilantro. Cilantro makes this soup, I can't really explain it, but it's key, trust me on this. And if you do decide to try this recipe, let me know what you think. I'm really curious if others will think it's as delish as the boyfriend and I thought it was.

Roasted Sweet Potato Peanut Bisque

(adapted from Eating Well)

Ingredients:

Two VERY large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into cubes

1 Tablespoon olive oil

salt, pepper

2 small white onions, chopped

2 cloves of garlic

4 oz. can spicy green chile (or mild if you're not up for the heat)

1 cup tomato juice (V8)

3 cups of chicken broth (I'll admit I use water and bouillon, I like it, shoot me)

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

s&p to taste (I didn't use any, the salty V8 and bouillon did it for me in the seasoning dept.)

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 400 F

1. Throw (or place gently) your sweet potato cubes on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put sheet in the oven and cook until fork tender and mashable. Mash your potatoes when they're finished. About 20 minutes.

2. On medium heat, drizzle a bit of olive oil in the bottom of a dutch oven or heavy bottom saucepan, then add your onion and garlic. Saute 5 minutes.

3. Add your chiles, then tomato juice, and broth. Heat to a boil.

4. Add peanut butter and mashed roasted squash.

5. Remove from heat temporarily and puree with a hand blender, or, place in food processor/blender (be careful when blending hot liquids, it tends to pop the top off of blenders, use a towel to cover) until smooth.

6. Place back on burner and heat thoroughly.

7. Garnish with peanuts and cilantro.

Now eat it up!

Roasted Sweet Potato Peanut Bisque, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.