Sweet Potato Bisque/Soup With Cashew Cream

I have a bad habit, I need to admit. This happens when I go shopping alone, which is almost all the time. I start looking at stuff that I don't even need. Last time when I was at Trader Joe's, I stopped by the isle with all the soup cartons. I have never ever bought a packaged soup till date. But still, I wanted to see what all they have. There was a stack of soup cartons with the name 'Sweet Potato Bisque'. I got curious as to what a 'Bisque' is. It is a thick creamy soup which has seafood in it. I proceeded to make the soup like all other root vegetable soups are made, but used 'Cashew Cream' to make it creamy that I had read on Vegan Yum Yum  blog some time back. She has a Sweet potato soup with cashew cream and I used that Cashew Cream idea here. This soup is hearty, filling and full of good carbohydrates.

One Year Back - Mango Rice / Mavinakayi Chitranna
Ingredients:
Sweet potato - 3 medium
White potato - 1 medium
Vegetable broth - 3 - 3 1/2 cups (If purchasing, use low sodium ones)
Salt - to taste
Crushed black pepper - to taste
Rosemary - fresh chopped 1 TBSP (You could your favorite herb)
Hot sauce - 1 tsp or to taste
Olive oil - 1 TBSP
Garlic - 2 pods grated

For the cashew cream:
Raw Cashews - 1/2 cup
Water or more vegetable broth to grind

Method:
Place washed sweet potato, potato in a pan and pressure cook it. Alternately, you could roast in the oven which will take more time. When the pressure is released, remove and peel the skin. Mash it coarsely. In a pan, heat olive oil. Saute garlic for few seconds and add coarsely mashed sweet potato and potato mixture. Add salt, rosemary and enough broth to let it boil but not too watery. When it starts simmering, turn off the heat.
Meanwhile, take cashews in the blender and make a cream out of it adding water or vegetable broth to facilitate the blades. Reserve a few tablespoons of this for garnish and add the sweet potato mixture to the blender and blend it into a smooth puree. Add the remaining broth if needed. When done, return the whole mixture into the pot back and let it simmer. Add hot sauce, crushed black pepper and adjust the salt if needed. Turn off the heat. To serve, top it off with some reserved cashew cream, more crushed black pepper.

This is a very creamy and almost sweet soup. Of course you can add more spices if you like. Kids loved them with some toasted whole wheat bread.

Enjoy. Pin It