Sweet Potato Soup

Well, my faithful blog readers, I've returned to the blogosphere in (hopefully) full force.  I've been traveling a ton and that's had a huge impact on my cooking.  Let's just say that my meals have been average at best but I'm looking forward to an uneventful October to get back on track.

I work in downtown Washington, DC and, every Friday, my building hosts a fantastic farmer's market with tons of seasonal produce.  I picked up five sweet potatoes and wanted to make a soup instead of the more traditional mash or casserole.  Plus, I just bought a Cuisinart immersion blender and what better way to try it out than to make a creamy soup?

Sweet Potato Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
5 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
6 cups water
2 cups vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1 tsp smoked paprika
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1/4 cup goat cheese

Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat.  Add the onions and carrots and saute for five minutes.  Add the sweet potatoes and saute for another minute or two.

Add the water, stock and bay leaf and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.  Ensure that the sweet potatoes are very soft before removing from heat - they should break apart at the touch of a fork.

Once the sweet potatoes are soft, remove the soup from the heat.  Also remove the bay leaf.  Add the smoke paprika, salt, pepper and cheese.  Use the immersion blender to smooth the soup.  There should not be any pieces of onion, carrots or sweet potatoes left - smooth is key!