Coconut Sweet Potato Corn Chowder

And just like that.... soup season was upon us! I've got mixed feelings about that. But great feelings about it when I come across recipes like this!

I'll be honest, I'm a bit of a bread addict. I am therefore trying to cut down on my bread product intake. It's so hard to me to fathom eating a bowl of soup without the complements of a nice side of bread. So I was on a mission to find a hearty soup recipe that would be good enough without it. What a success! I didn't think once about adding a side of anything to this dish.

Recipe altered from immaeatthat 

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato cubed (about 4 cups)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 cups cooked corn kernels 

1 large red onion finely diced

1 cup celery finely diced

1 garlic clove minced

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 + 1/8th teaspoons salt

1/4 + 1/8th teaspoons pepper

2 cups vegetable broth

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 cup canned coconut milk

Optional toppings

corn

tomatoes

black beans

sprouts

avocado

cilantro

Preheat oven to 450F. Toss cubed sweet potatoes in olive oil, 1/8teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring half-way through.

Cook corn kernels while sweet potatoes are baking. Place 1 cup of the cooked corn into a blender with 1 cup of water and blend until smooth. Leave puree in blender and set aside.

Heat the coconut oil in a large pot on medium-high heat, then add the diced onions. Add the diced celery after the onions have slightly softened. Once both are soft, add minced garlic, dried thyme and the remaining cup of corn kernels. Cook until fragrant, then reduce heat to low. 

Once sweet potatoes have cooked through, add 1 cup to the vegetable mixture in the pot. Transfer the rest into the blender with the corn puree. Add 1 cup of the vegetable broth to the blender mixture and 1 cup to the pot mixture. Blend the sweet potato and corn puree until smooth, then add to the pot. Add the coconut milk and remaining salt and pepper. 

Allow soup to simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with your choice of topping. 

I topped mine with a bit of corn and sliced grape tomatoes. The tomatoes definitely added an excellent touch!

Enjoy!

- Arianne