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Happy New Year, everyone! I recently flew back to Boston after spending my Winter Break with my family in California & I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back here. Not that I don’t love my family, I absolutely do, but coming back & seeing it snow is breathtaking. Walking about to the grocery store, cheeks rosy & face numb, with the snow drifting analogously to confetti was magical. It’s so beautiful here, but let’s not forget that it’s also a good deal colder here than it is in California. Channeling my inner Elsa, the cold never bothered me anyway, but that’s also because I’m equipped with recipes for comforting warm soups! Curious what’s in my arsenal? Spice up your life with my new spicy soup recipe that’ll keep you warm during this frosty season. If you’re on the West Coast or Florida–well, I suppose 18 ºC (64 ºF) is “cold” to you–this soup will suit you just fine. I present to you my Spicy Sweet Potato Soup, a cold buster whether it’s the weather or if you’re feeling under the weather.
Spicy Sweet Potato Soup
If you’re curious to what’s inside this soup, look yourself. If you have questions about the soup, leave a comment on my recipe so that others who might have the same question as you can see my answer. This recipe is vegan, vegetarian, low carb, paleo, probably gluten-free, & all around healthy. It’s adapted from Power Foods, but modified to use real tomatoes instead of canned, with an addition of spinach. Kale is a great alternative too.
Enjoyed my last post with links to photos from Boston? Hah, well, I know only 2 of you even looked at them, but anyway, here’s more.
Cold Bustin’ Soup Recipe + More Bawston Photos
Stay warm everyone & have a happy New Year! No one cares about my goals or resolutions so I’ll save you the zzZzzZzzZzZzzZ…
Stay warm in Boston! How long is your program? One year or two years? I know it’s related to pre-med courses, so I assume you’re taking supplementary courses to boost your chances of getting into med school…or are you repeating some courses? How does this work? Hope you have a great start and the rest of this upcoming semester! Stay strong, stay fresh, and stay culinarily creative. Here is to a strong academic semester. *Cheers*
My program is as long as I need it to be, haha! Pretty much as long as it takes me to finish the supplementary classes I need for medical school. Yes indeed, I’m trying to bolster my CV so someone on a committee will take a second glance at me before I get tossed in the rejected pile. I’m doing both, repeating courses & taking new ones. My brain is poorly wired to handle physics, so I’m taking the classes again so I can beat the crap out of it on the MCAT.
Channeling your inner Elsa . . . HAHAHAHA! That line cracked me up XD I guess I’m an Elsa, too! The cold doesn’t bother me until it dips down to -10C/14F. I’ve learned that -10C is my limit, and anything colder, bothers me. Luckily, Seoul doesn’t get down to that extreme that much, but there are days when it does, and I’m all like, “It’s !@#$%@!#!@ freezing!” Really, though, I’m glad you’re not whinging about the cold! I get enough of that here with so many people who hate the cold, so it’s refreshing to not hear that! 😀
And ooooh, yum! I’d like to try that recipe. I wonder if it could be modified into a slow cooker recipe. I need to use that thing more! Sweet potatoes are one of the few veggies I like, so I’ll definitely keep that in mind! 😀
Anyway, Happy New Year, Tiff! You have a marvelous 2015!
I haven’t been outside when it’s less than -10 ºC yet, so I don’t know whether or not I’ve reached my limit. I’ll get back to you on that, hah! I guess it’s also about how prepared you are for the weather. Obviously someone in some yoga pants & a tank top is gonna be bothered when it’s -15, but if they were wearing tons of layers, eh, they’d be fine. I’m sure it’s very beautiful in Seoul this time of year too. I’m terrible in the heat & humidity though, so I might not complain when it’s cold outside, but I’m sooooooo annoying when it’s hot & humid. It’s way too uncomfortable for me. I’m probably the only person in my family who would rather die in a snow covered mountain than in on an island on the equator.
Sweet potatoes cook relatively faster than regular old Russet potatoes, so I don’t think you’d need a slow cooker for it. It is a one pot recipe that shouldn’t take very long to make anyway. Dry roasting the aromatics brings really nice flavor & heat to the soup, but I suppose you could toss it all into a slow cooker & see how it turns out. It’s too bad you’re not a fan of veggies! They’re so good for you. 😀
Happy New Year to you too!
I LOVE sweet potato! My mom recently made a sweet version with purple sweet potato. It had a lot of ginger in it and was more like a “dessert soup”. Maybe you should try it 🙂 My parents always find it odd that I prefer to drink my soup out of a mug and I’m glad now that I’m not the only one doing that XD
Oh I love purple sweet potato! I love all potatoes though. This wasn’t by chance taro was it? I love that too. What else was in this soup? I’d love to see the recipe for it. 😀 Meh it’s convenient when it’s in a cup! You can moderate your portions better too.
I feel like laughing every time someone makes a reference to Frozen for …basically anything. At first I was like “uh…Frozen everywhere; how overrated” but now I feel funny hearing them. Don’t ask why, I don’t even know why :))
aaahh! I love soup 🙂 they’re amazing comfort food and it’s the one food that I’d never get bored of. I grew up eating soup and I tend to like almost every soup 😀 it’s something I always feel like eating when I fall sick too. *huge soup fan* I remember loving chicken soup with broccoli and carrots, sausages and macaronis in it. my mother used to cook it a lot ;w; do you happen to enjoy cooking cream soup too? 😀
oh and happy new year, lovely host of mine! /o/
Soup & I are best friends. 🙂 I’ve had about 3 bowls of clam chowder & a bowl of ochazuke. Soups all day! I tend to cook more Asian soups than creamy soup, but I also haven’t used real milk in a long time. I use almond milk or coconut milk in my cooking. I did just make clam chowder, which is very creamy, but not overwhelming. Creamy soups are very hearty & filling though. I like my soups on the lighter side, but with tons of vegetables!
Happy New Year, lovely hostee of mine!
Welcome back to Boston! For some reason, I’m always happy when I go back to my apartment at school after spending a day or two in LA- definitely not because of the smell of fertilizer or the nonexistent snow, :’D. Seeing snow in person must be nice!
Your soup in a cup looks so delicious and warming! I always had a fascination for food in cups; maybe because it’s out of the ordinary.. With the ginger and tumeric, I’m pretty sure it surpassed the normal line of healthy. Maybe this can cure colds too ;).
Maybe it’s because returning to our apartments is home away from home & it’s relaxing. I love my parents & I enjoy my time with them, but being in my own space is also nice. No nagging, that’s also nice hahaha. It is so gorgeous when it snows here! The beautiful European architecture + snow = mesmerizing.
Thanks! I thought I’d do something different with my presentation of soup & since I mentioned it’s a cold buster, I thought, “well, might as well put it in a mug to drive that point home!” Sweet potato is pretty good for you too, so yep, it’s an all around guilt-free soup.
Found your blog and this recipe looks delicious! Not what I’d expect to use sweet potato for (my first thought was to blend the crap out of it and combine it with butternut squash to make a creamy soup,) but your recipe is WAY healthier. Once I’m off my soft diet, I’ll definitely try cooking this with my boyfriend– he’ll appreciate the spiciness and the fact that I’m actually eating some vegetables.
Anyway, I was also reading over your “about me” and was delighted to see that you’re also pursuing a post-baccalaureate pre-med program. Nice! Seems like we switched locations 😉 I finished my undergrad in the blustering, cold Midwest and then switched to a program on the West Coast. And it seems like you did the opposite 😛 (Though you’re on the East Coast.) I hope you’re dealing with the weather OK. Everyone’s having another brutal winter. :/
Thanks for stopping by & welcome! Hope you come back soon & hopefully you get to try out my recipe one day. It’s pretty easy to make & delicious to have in your arsenal. Great cold buster with the ginger in it & what not. You can add lemongrass & maybe use green tea instead of vegetable broth for extra cold bustin’ ingredients.
We did indeed switch climates! I hope that you enjoy California. It’s too bad there’s a terrible drought, but at least there’s tons of Asian food around to make you happy. There’s actually a blizzard hitting New England right now, so I’m going to wake up to about 2 feet of snow tomorrow. No complaints here, the wind howling & hitting your face is probably the worst of it for me, I dig the snow & I dig the cold. 😀
Ah, warm soups are so nice during the cold seasons 🙂 Lately we’ve been obsessed with making curry, which I also find very satisfying when it’s cold. I love sweet potatoes, so this looks like a soup I’d like!
I also love the colorful trees in your photos. That’s one of the things I miss from the northeast. We don’t get colors like that down here!
I love curry too! I actually bought some more Japanese curry packets that I’m excited to make soon-ish. It’s so great during the winter.
Let me know if you decide to give the recipe a go. I think it’s a really good one. 🙂 I need to use sweet potatoes more often. They’re so delicious!
Thanks for the photo compliment. Autumn sure was beautiful here, definitely not something you see in SoCal unless you go up to the mountains.