^[1]Here’s a warming soup with an appealing golden color. The natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes gives this soup a surprising flavor twist.

Serves: 6

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 large celery stalk, diced
• Handful of celery leaves
• 6 cups peeled, diced (about 1/2 inch) sweet potatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons seasoning blend (such as Spike or Mrs. Dash)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup rice milk or coconut milk, or as needed
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and sauté over low heat until the onions are golden.

Add the celery leaves and sweet potato dice. Add just enough water to cover all but about an inch of the vegetables. Bring to a simmer, then stir in the bay leaves and seasonings. Simmer gently, covered, until the sweet potatoes and vegetables are quite tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.

With a slotted spoon, remove about half of the solid ingredients and transfer to a food processor along with about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Process until smoothly pureed, then stir back into the soup pot. Or, simply insert an immersion blender into the pot and process until smoothly pureed

Add the rice milk or coconut as needed to give the soup a slightly thick consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer over very low heat for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Serve at once, or let stand off the heat for an hour or two before serving, then heat through as needed.

• Enjoy more of VegKitchen’s sweet potato recipes. ^[2]
• Explore other delicious vegan soup recipes here at Soulful Soups. ^[3]
• Return to A Colorful Vegan Christmas (Vegetarians Welcome!) ^[4] for a complete listing of holiday dinner recipes, menus, and desserts.