Favorite Time of Year/ Sweet Potato Soup

After living in the temperate, beachy, year-long-summer climate of Hawaii for 22 years, I've come to appreciate the beauty of seasons. This is my third Autumn in Champaign, IL and it gets more beautiful every year. The changes in every gust of wind, the gradient of color in the trees, the perfect mixture of cold crisp air and sunshine. There's nothing like Fall.

As a former Fashion Merchandising major, I've been hypnotized by the allure of a Fall wardrobe: the aubergines, mauves and forest greens that cannot be fully expressed in Hawaii's consistent uniform of shorts and sandals . Fall has been the time of year that I do not envy my homeland, that I do not wish for the past. Yet, every Autumn brings new adventures, surprised and inspirations to be found.

I have never fully embraced the comfy, cozy nature of Midwest food. I grew up in a place that 70 degrees was freezing! Fresh, light and Asian-inspired were the normal descriptions to our food. Dumplings, mac n cheese, pot roast and meatloaf were not part of my childhood. Instead we had Kalua pork (a traditional Hawaiian variation on pulled pork), Spam musibis (rice balls with teriyaki pan fried spam), and Potuguese bean soup (a soup made of kidney beans, linguisa sausage, cabbage, potatoes and carrots). This year, is the year I take Fall by the horns and make hearty, stick-to-your-ribs food that my Midwestern honey would be proud of.

Let's get started.

In today's kitchen, we have sweet potatoes. I bought them hoping to make some sweet potato fries. They were delicious, but I wanted something warm and hearty and not something that I would be crouched over in the corner shooing away boyfriend because they were my precious. Today's lunch is sweet potato soup.


Since boyfriend is at the office, I made two servings: one for my lunch and one for him when he gets home from work.

I started with sweet onion, garlic and sweet potatoes. Dice onion, chop garlic and peel and cube the sweet potatoes. We LOVE garlic in our house, but add less if you're not a big fan. Take a pot, over medium heat and add some extra virgin olive oil. After oil is heated up, add onion, garlic, salt and pepper.After onions and garlic are cooked (I like them a little browned), add sweet potatoes and chicken broth.

Bring heat up to a boil, then simmer the mixture for around 5 minutes. The chicken broth will help the sweet potatoes soften and the broth adds extra flavor. You can substitute with water, vegetable broth, beef broth, or add a splash or two of wine.

Add seasonings for warmth and depth. I added curry powder, cumin, red pepper flake and a pinch of cinnamon. You can veto the red pepper flake if you don't like the heat. Roughly chop some fresh flat leaf parsley and add to pot with spices. Stir mixture to incorporate flavors.

I also added some freshly grated ginger for a little kick. Used my handy Japanese ginger grater that I got from home, specifically to grate ginger. PS: also wonderful for grating garlic.

After the potatoes are soft and the flavors are incorporated, I blended the soup with my wonderful immersion blender to desired consistency. I love my soup with some texture so I didn't blend it to be silky smooth, but it's your preference. Also, if you want your soup to be super smooth, you can add more liquid to help the process.

After desired consistency is reached, prepare toppings. I chose a few parsley leaves, diced cherry tomatoes, a lime wedge and crumbled goat cheese.

Ladle soup into bowl, add tomatoes, goat cheese and parsley. Squeeze lime juice over soup. For added flavor, I drizzled some olive oil over the top.

 Sweet Potato Soup with Goat cheese and Tomatoes

• 2-3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1-1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cherry tomatoes, diced
• 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

Bon appetite and happy Fall!

-Akemi-chan