Recipe: Slow Cooker Sweet Potato and Apple Soup with Brown Buttered Kale Leaves

It’s flippin’ freezing cold outside!  For real.  This entire country is under some sort of deep freeze.  That polar vortex is making air temperatures unbearable.  And, during this sort of weather, my body just wants to shut down…curl up…hibernate.

Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way.

This past week, we had more winter weather and sub-zero temperatures plaguing my area.  My CSA bin was scheduled to arrive a day later now, for the safety of the delivery drivers.  So, on a very cold and snowy Saturday afternoon, I returned home to find my new bin waiting outside my door.  Inside was a plethora of fruit and veggie goodness.  For real.  But…with one less day to use the items, I needed something I could make that was simple, clean, and perfect for cold weather.

I stumbled across a recipe for a Sweet Potato and Apple Soup at a blog called 100 Days of Real Food.  Intrigued, and having received every necessary ingredient in my bin, I decided to cook it up.  After all, I could leave it going on Sunday while I was out for my long run and finishing up my grocery shopping.  Perfect.

And this soup…also perfect.  As the mercury has fallen again to unbearable temperatures…the fact that I have a nice, steaming bowl of soup waiting for me at home makes the day a little easier to stand.  I did a little crispy kale topping for this soup, which is an extra step and not necessary, but trust me…it’s worth it.  The original recipe called for sage…but I work with what I have.  It’s amazing.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Sweet Potato and Apple Soup with Brown Buttered Kale Leaves

Servings: 6-8
Time: Prep 15 minutes; Cook 5 hours

Ingredients:

• ½ large onion, cut into large dice
• 1 lb white potatoes (2 small or 1 large), scrubbed clean and cut into 1 inch pieces with the skin left on
• 1½ lbs sweet potatoes (3 small or 2 large), scrubbed clean and cut into 1 inch pieces with the skin left on
• 2 apples, cut into 1 inch pieces with the skin left on
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• ¾ cup fresh kale leaves, cut into strips (using culinary scissors or a knife)

Directions:

In the bottom of a slow cooker put in the onion, potatoes, apples, garlic, and salt.  Pour the vegetable stock over top.

Turn the slow cooker onto high and cook for 5 hours.

Puree the hot soup either in batches in a counter top blender or by just sticking a hand immersion blender right into your slow cooker (recommended).

Stir in 2 tablespoons of the butter.

In a medium sized pan over medium heat melt the other 2 tablespoons of butter.  Add the kale leaves and cook while stirring until butter browns and leaves are crisp, about 1-2 minutes.  Top soup with brown buttered sage and serve immediately.

~*~*~

Warm, hearty, yet still light…this soup is the perfect way to warm up in winter.  I love a good soup and this one is definitely packed with flavor.  And made with real ingredients and real food.  It’s no fuss too, which I loved.  Coming home from my errands on Sunday, my apartment smelled amazing.  I pureed the soup and then dished out 8 servings into individual dishes.  I have two in the fridge ready for tonight after I hit up the gym.  The rest are in the freezer, because this recipe freezes well.  So, don’t worry too much about how much it makes.  Make some room in that freezer and save it for a day you really don’t feel like cooking.

ENJOY!