Sweet Potato & Orange Herbed Soup with Spicy Sausage

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”

— Isaac Asimov

On this edition of "Get Rid of All The Food Before Our Trip!", sweet potato and orange are the stars with supporting roles from fresh cilantro and parsley, as well as spicy chipotle sausage. It's a good one, and just look how pretty this soup is! 

I had a few potatoes I knew were aging a bit and a several oranges leftover from giant bag of clementines that we'd bought from Costco a couple weeks ago. When I delved into my trusty Flavor Bible, I found that they pair beautifully together! I was pretty psyched. Two plants with one stone, if you know what I mean. Though, I've never been much a fan of citrus, specifically orange, in my soup...this was darn delicious.  

It's funny, when the herbs are blended in, the soup becomes a bit frothy which I found to be delightfully amusing for unknown reasons. It did dissipate after a short while though. 

I decided to make a sweet potato soup after learning that boiling the sweet taters is actually by far the best method of cooking for retaining their nutritional prowess. Now usually I try to stay away from boiling vegetables because I had always thought the opposite was true. Apparently with sweet potatoes, boiling is actually best. Roasting, in fact, wrecked havoc on them in regards to retaining their nutrition. Boo that!

If you want to learn more about the best way to cook sweet potatoes (trust me you do!), check out this totally interesting video from the scientific, nutritional genius that is Dr. Michael Greger at Nutritionfacts.org. Do I get excessively excited by things like this? The answer is an emphatic yes. 

A creamy, sweet potato soup enlivened with fresh-squeezed orange juice that's complemented by green cilantro and parsley, and studded with browned Mexican chipotle sausage. 

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Sweet Potato & Orange Herbed Soup with Spicy Sausage

by Katie @ Produce on Parade July-9-2014

A creamy, sweet potato soup enlivened with fresh-squeezed orange juice that's complemented by green cilantro and parsley, and studded with browned Mexican chipotle sausage.

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes, sliced
• dash of kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 3 small oranges, juiced
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• dash of ground black pepper
• 2 Mexican Chipotle Field Roast Sausages, chopped
• handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions

Add the sliced sweet potato to a large pot. Pour in just enough water to cover the slices, add a dash of salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Then, cover and boil for about 25 minutes.Meanwhile, in a large rimmed frying pan heat the olive oil over medium. Add the onion and garlic and saute for about 10 minutes, until the onions have browned.Juice the oranges and add the juice to a blender along with the broth, allspice, and pepper. Transfer the onions to the blender when they are done browning. Add the chopped sausage to the frying pan and brown for about 5 minutes. Once the sweet potatoes are done boiling, remove with a slotted spoon and place in the blender. Blend all the ingredients in the blender on high for several minutes until smooth and creamy, excluding the sausages and herbs.Now, add the herbs and blend until well incorporated. Heat in a high speed blender, or in a large soup pot until just heated through. You don't want to cook the fresh herbs. Serve hot and topped with 1-2 Tbsp. of the browned, chopped sausage and additional fresh herbs.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 35 mins Total time: 45 mins Yield: 6

German Word of The Day

Orange juice --> Orangensaft (o-rongen-zahft) "Saft" means juice! 

Good Deed of The Day

This is a big one. Wool isn't really that cruel, right? "Investigations of sheep shearing found that workers in Australia, the world's top wool exporter, and the U.S. killed, beat, stomped on, kicked, mutilated, and threw sheep around as they sheared them."

Wrong. Big time wrong. These sheep aren't pets, don't be fooled into thinking that just because they aren't slaughtered (which they usually are later) means they are treated as nicely as you'd treat your animal companion. They are nothing more than a commodity in the eyes of the wool business and if you think anything other than that...it's time to open your eyes and bring an end to blatant ignorance and apathy. Help ask J.Crew and Ralph Lauren to use cruelty-free materials in place of wool! 

Spiced Mint & Parsley Lentil Salad

A couple weekends ago I may have eaten my weight in Oreos. Okay, maybe that's exaggerating but I feel like it was pretty darn close. The misfortune occurred during the road trip that Todd and I took to Denali, which I talked about in this post. I hate road trips. All of them, there're torture! I just loathe being stuck in a box for a zillion hours. Sure, you can get out and walk around every now and again but that just makes me feel even more like a dog trapped in a small crate that's let out a few times a day. This may be a dramatic comparison, but you get my point. Anyway, to make this trip less miserable I brought along some candied ginger (I get carsick...yes I'm a joy when road-tripping) and we listened to podcasts the entire way up while consuming a whole bag of Oreos and a large bag of Sunchips. Needless to say, the following week my body was in dire need of a reboot, so to speak. This Spiced Mint & Parsley Lentil Salad was the perfect dish to help me feel less like a complete, gluttonous bum. I was in dire need of some real food, people.

So, it won't win any beauty awards but it's the robust combination of lentils mixed with fragrant spices and fresh herbs that make it such a revitalizing salad. It's sure to rejuvenate anyone after a long weekend of being on the funk food bandwagon. Serve it up as a side dish or as an entree, as we did.

Spiced Mint & Parsley Lentil Salad

Inspired by Lebanese Recipes

Serves 2 as an entree

• 1 cup dry green lentils (or any color you'd like)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 onion, chopped small
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/3 -1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• fresh juice from 1/2 a small lemon (about 2-3 Tbsp.)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• a couple handfuls of fresh spinach (or any other greens)
• paprika for garnish (optional)

Drain and rinse the dry, green lentils. However, using green lentils isn't mandatory. You can use any color you'd like. Brown lentils will take a bit longer to cook and red lentils will cook a bit faster, so make sure to be aware of that.

Place the lentils in a medium saucepan with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn down to low. Allow them to simmer for about 30 minutes. The time will vary based on the lentils used, and of course you can always add more water if needed. You can tell when they're finished cooking as they should be tender.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium frying pan over low. Add in the garlic and the onion and stir until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. P.S. Check out my cool garlic holder! Have an adorable little egg crate but don't do eggs anymore? Repurpose it! I've also seen them used as a jewelry holder, too!

Chop the fresh herbs and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, salt, pepper and spices. Add this mixture to the garlic and onions and heat over low for a few minutes.

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Once the lentils are tender, add all the remaining ingredients to the lentil pot as well as the spinach, allowing it to wilt. Mix well to combine. Serve with a sprinkle of paprika! It can be served hot, room temperature or cooled. However you prefer!

Smile! Eating healthy has never been more tasty.

Spiced Mint & Parsley Lentil Salad

Recipe Type: Entree

Author: Katie - Produce On Parade

Serves: 2

Robust lentils mix with fragrant spices and fresh herbs for a revitalizing salad. It's sure to rejuvenate anyone, after a long weekend of being on the funk food bandwagon. Serve as a side dish or as an entree.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry green lentils (or any color you'd like)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 onion, chopped small
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/3 -1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• fresh juice from 1/2 a small lemon (about 2-3 Tbsp.)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• a couple handfuls of fresh spinach (or any other greens)
• paprika for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Drain and rinse lentils. Place the lentils in a medium saucepan with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn down to low.
2. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes. This will vary based on the lentils used, and of course you can add more water if needed. You can tell when they're finished cooking as they should be tender.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium frying pan over low. Add in the garlic and the onion and stir until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
4. Chop the fresh herbs and set aside.
5. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, salt, pepper and spices. Add this mixture to the garlic and onions and heat over low for a few minutes.
6. Once the lentils are tender, add in all the remaining ingredients to that pot as well as the spinach and allow it to wilt. Mix well to combine.
7. Serve with a sprinkle of paprika!

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