Sweet Potato Collard Soup and a Rainy Day Playlist

Today is a cozy day at the RIC; people doing work and Perspectives homework in the dining room on a rainy, grey day.  I started some soup from a bunch of ingredients that needed to be used and listened to my current favorite playlist of songs by my "friends" while it cooked.

Sweet Potato Collard Soup

2 tsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 Tbsp. ginger, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
8 c. peeled, cubed sweet potatoes
12 c. water
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. oil
1 lb. fresh collards, chopped (or  frozen, thawed and drained)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. ground fennel
1 1/4 c. brown rice, cooked
3 bratwurst, raw

Heat butter and oil in bottom of medium soup pot.  Add onion, ginger, and garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently, until golden-brown.  You may need to add a little water to keep them from sticking.  Add cumin, cinnamon, pepper, and paprika and sauté for 2 minutes, again adding water if needed.  Add sweet potatoes, water, and salt.  Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, until potatoes are soft, about 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining Tbsp. oil in a large skillet; add collards.  Saute until they start to soften.  Add salt and fennel, and water, if needed, so that there is a thin layer (1/4 inch) on bottom of skillet.  Add bratwurst to pan; cover and cook five minutes.  Flip bratwurst and cook another five minutes.

Mash sweet potatoes slightly using a masher, whisk (what I used), or immersion blender.  Set bratwurst aside and add collard mixture and brown rice to sweet potatoes.  Rinse the frying pan, then use it to brown the bratwurst on two sides.  Remove from heat and allow bratwurst to set for five minutes before cutting into small pieces.  Add to soup.

Makes twelve 1 1/3 c. servings.  One serving contains 227 Calories, 1 c. vegetables, 1/2 oz. protein, 1 tsp. oils, 37 empty Calories, 3 g. saturated fat, and 680 mg. sodium, according to Supertracker.


If I hadn't had the bratwurst and cooked brown rice on hand, I would have added 3/4 c. red lentils, 1/2 c. uncooked brown rice and an extra cup or two of water to the sweet potatoes at the beginning, cooking until rice is soft before mashing the potatoes and adding the collards.