It’s lovely, then, to find something to make for dinner that add bright color and spicy, smoky flavor to the room. This soup is just the ticket?

This recipe is adapted from one I learned at a cooking class in North Carolina. The base of the soup is composed of two fall market items that store quite well, so it’s just as easy to make in the winter as in late autumn.

Sweet potatoes and apples: such good friends these can be in dishes both sweet and savory! The sweet potatoes don’t need any special treatment before heading into the oven, and meanwhile, you can prepare your apples and other ingredients.

Once peeled and sliced, the apples are gently spiced with curry and coated with olive oil. They’ll join the potatoes for the last 15 minutes of roasting.

Next, the remaining ingredients come out to play. Here’s where things really get fun: a chipotle en adobo (just one, believe me, it will give PLENTY of spice), a few slices of nice, thick bacon, some garlic, onion, and pepper, and apple cider and chicken stock to give the soup some sweetness and some liquid. All of the above except the cider and stock are sauteed right in the stock pot and would probably be good enough to eat all on their own.

I mean seriously, SO GOOD. The smell is overwhelmingly delightful.

Meanwhile, your potatoes will be finishing up in the oven. One key to this soup really is a nice, long roast for the sweet potatoes. They’ll roast for a full hour, developing their sweetness, and will pop right out of their skins once they’ve cooled down a bit. Plus, we got everything else ready while they cooked, how efficient!

From there, it doesn’t take much to finish; dump the peeled potatoes and the apples in with the aromatics, add the stock and cider, and simmer for about 20 minutes before blending. I’ll put in my usual plug for an immersion blender at this point: who likes trying to transfer boiling hot soup from a giant pot to a tiny food processor to a different pot in multiple batches?

Once blended, dish up what is seriously the most vibrant soup I’ve ever tasted. Each component is equally important: the sweet apple cider nicely cuts the heat from the chipotle, the chipotle gives heat to the potatoes and apples, the potatoes and apples provide a filling and flavorful base, and best of all, the bacon lends its smoky, meaty flavor to the soup in all the right ways.

So if you, like me, are counting the days until the return of green trees, blue skies, and bright yellow flowers sprouting from every crack in the sidewalks, I encourage to stop counting long enough to enjoy this perfectly delightful soup. It really goes best with cold weather, and for many of us, we have several weeks of that left!

Spiced & Smoky Sweet Potato Soup
Adapted from Durham Spirits Company

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (3-4 large)
3 small, tart apples
2 T olive oil, divided
1 tsp curry powder
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 chipotle en adobo, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 c apple cider
4 c chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash sweet potatoes and place on a baking sheet, leaving about a third of the baking sheet open (you’ll be adding the apples partway through). Roast for one hour. While the potatoes are roasting, peel, core, and slice the apples and place in a small bowl. Add 1 T olive oil and curry powder and mix well. Add the apples to the baking sheet for the last 15 minutes that the potatoes are roasting. Once the roasting is done, remove baking sheet from the oven and set aside until the potatoes are cool enough to handle. Once cool, slice into the skins, peel them off, and discard them.

While the potatoes are cooling, heat 1 T olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Roughly chop bacon and sauté in the pot. Add the onion, salt, and pepper and cook until onions are soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the chipotle and the garlic and cook for about 5 more minutes. Add apple cider, chicken stock, apples, and the peeled potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Puree the soup using an immersion blender or a regular blender. Soup should be fairly thick. If you prefer a thinner soup, add a bit more chicken stock or apple cider.

Serve immediately. This also makes great leftovers.

I’ve talked rather a lot in the last few months about the wedding in early October for which I traveled across the continent, stood up as a bridesmaid, and baked the groom’s cake & wedding cake. What I haven’t talked quite so much about is the wedding I attended the week after as, quite blissfully, simply a guest.

Just a few short days after I returned from my whirlwind week in Colorado, Brad and I headed north to Washington DC for wedding #2. Though we stayed in the city with a friend who was also on the guest list, the ceremony itself was about an hour outside the city at a quaint little vineyard nestled in the rolling hills of Northern Virginia. It was a beautiful, clear evening, though the chill of autumn had definitely arrived. And while the wedding party raced against the sun to capture all their photos, the rest of us took advantage of the occasional & delicious delivery of appetizers throughout the cocktail hour.

Our favorite Shot glasses full of brilliant orange sweet potato soup. Since we were shamelessly stalking the catering staff for more and subsequently tilting each glass back to drain every last drop, I knew I must try to recreate it at home.

This soup is another super-thick, veggie-packed, warm and filling delight. Its the latest installment of my recent obsession with soups (I’ve made no less than five large batches of soup this fall) and it’s certainly one I’ll make again. It begins, of course, with sweet potatoes, and is supported by a smattering of other vegetables.

We also add in some lovely savory liquids to make this more like soup and less like chopped vegetables. I used vegetable stock for this to make it vegetarian, but you can swap it out for chicken stock if you prefer. And don’t skimp on the maple syrup. It lends a deep, sultry sweetness to this soup that whispers of the classic sweet potatoes & marshmallows.

After the soup is cooked, it’s blender time again! You can, of course, use an immersion blender instead if your kitchen is blessed with such a device. A food processor should also do the trick. You could also probably get there with a potato masher, though you’ll likely work up a sweat along the way. Just get those veggies smooth!

The result is a simple, luscious soup that can either play the role of humble luncheon or schmancy party treat. Who’d have thought?

Sweet Potato Soup
Adapted from Simply Recipes

2 T butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 leek, sliced (white and light green parts only)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 3/4 lbs (28 oz) sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-2″ pieces
4 c vegetable broth
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
3 T maple syrup
1 c half and half
chives, chopped to garnish

Chop all vegetables before beginning to cook. Heat butter in a large pot (at least 4 quarts) until melted over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes until onions begin to soften. Add leeks & celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 3 minutes more. Add sweet potatoes, vegetable broth, cinnamon stick, all the spices, and the maple syrup and stir until combined. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Once the soup begins to boil, simmer uncovered on medium for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Working in batches, transfer soup to a blender (include a scoop or two of the broth in each batch!) and blend. Once all soup has been blended, transfer back to the pot and place over medium-low heat. Add half and half and stir well. Season to taste with additional salt & pepper if desired.

Serve hot, garnished with chives if you like.