Someone get me 50 ccs of knife sharpener, stat. There’s nothing worse than when you’re trying to cut into a sweet potato and the knife gets stuck in the middle. If there’s music playing while I’m cooking, I take the high road and slowly ease the knife the rest of the way through.

If there’s nothing to distract me, I throw out some choice expletives and take the lowest road possible, whacking the poor potato into smithereens all while wondering why I decided to make a complicated dinner. You like eggs, I repeat to myself. Why couldn’t you have settled for a nice omelette?

Because if we always settled for a nice omelette, we would never try things like this sweet potato and coconut milk soup. After the sweet potato-cutting fiasco, I told myself that this dish better be worth it.

It did not disappoint. I’m a big fan of turmeric and curry, and this soup combines them in the best possible way. They give the sweet potatoes a little kick but don’t overshadow the main attraction. And the lentils and brown rice add some texture, so you don’t feel like you’re drinking a smooth–albeit very tasty–sweet potato puree.

Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Milk and Lentils (adapted from Katie at the Kitchen Door)

Ingredients

2-3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
2 TBS olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste
3 TBS coconut oil, divided
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 TBS curry powder
2 TBS freshly grated ginger (from a 1 inch piece of ginger)
4 c. vegetable or chicken broth
1 c. coconut milk
1 1/2 c. cooked black lentils
3 c. cooked brown rice
yogurt, for serving
fresh minced cilantro, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the sweet potatoes with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Melt 2 TBS of the coconut oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the turmeric, curry powder, and ginger and saute until fragrant, 2 minutes more. Add the roasted sweet potato and broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 2o minutes, then remove from heat and carefully transfer to a blender. Add the coconut milk and blend until very smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set soup aside.

Scoop a 1/2 cup of brown rice into each bowl. Pour soup over the rice, then top with lentils, yogurt, and cilantro.