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Sweet Potato Leek Soup with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

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Sweet Potato Leek Soup topped with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds: a veggie filled, warming winter soup

Sweet Potato Leek Soup topped with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds: a veggie filled, warming winter soup

Can you believe that Christmas is only one week away? And that New Years is two weeks? 2016: Where did you come from? My head spins at the thought of another year fast approaching because 2015 can’t possibly be almost over. And yet thinking back on this past year I realize how much that I’ve actually done.

Why does time move by faster as you get older?

Sweet Potato Leek Soup topped with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds: a veggie filled, warming winter soup

But enough about that for now – you’re here for the soup!

As much as I’d love to gorge myself on all the Christmas treats that are available right now I’ve been trying to make an effort to get in as many veggies as I can to balance it all out. Why couldn’t I be born with a speedy metabolism that allowed me to be up to my eyeballs in cookies without gaining a pound?

So my determination not to gain 20 pounds this holiday season combined with the fact that I was once again overly ambitious at the store last week buying more sweet potatoes than once person could possibly eat on their own – soup was of course a no brainer. At least I love soup almost as I love eating raw cookie dough so really it’s not all bad.

I got the idea for this sweet potato soup from a recipe originally by My New Roots that she shared on Design Love. The skeleton of this recipe is the same, but I tweaked a few things based on what I had on hand and decided to give the pumpkin seeds a little more spice to balance out the sweetness of the potatoes. You can skip the pumpkin seeds altogether if you don’t have any on hand, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say you’d be missing out.

Now all you need is a little French Bread for dipping and you’re all set!

Sweet Potato Leek Soup topped with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds: a veggie filled, warming winter soup

Yield: 4 servings

Sweet Potato Soup with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Sweet Potato Soup with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Sweet Potato Leek Soup topped with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds: a veggie filled, warming winter soup
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

Soup

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 large leeks
  • 4 garlic cloves, , crushed
  • 3 medium sweet potatoes, (1/2 kg)
  • 1.5 liters vegetable stock for vegan option or chicken stock

Pumpkin Seeds

  • 1/2 cup pumpkin sees/pepitas, (65 grams)
  • 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

Soup

  1. Chop the leeks up before washing them (this helps to get the dirt between layers).
  2. In a large stock pot melt the coconut oil and then add the leeks, salt, and thyme and cook on a medium heat for about five minutes until the leeks begin to soften. Stir every so often. Add the crushed garlic to the leeks.
  3. Scrub the sweet potatoes clean (no need to peel) and cut into 1 inch cubes. Add to the pot, stir, and then cover for a couple of minutes.
  4. Add the stock to the pot, bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer cooking until the sweet potatoes are soft enough to easily pierce with a fork.
  5. Using an immersion blender puree the soup until it becomes creamy. You can also transfer the soup to a regular blender if you don't own an immersion blender.
  6. Season with additional salt if it needs it.

Pumpkin Seeds

  1. Preheat your oven to 300°F/150°C
  2. Toss the pumpkin seeds in a small bowl with the other ingredients until they are coated and then spread them out on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Spread the seeds out so that they are in an even, single layer and then roast in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the seeds to cool slightly before adding them to the soup

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

serving
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 232 Saturated Fat: 4g Sodium: 2145mg Carbohydrates: 34g Fiber: 4g Sugar: 10g Protein: 4g
© Sarah Nevins
Cuisine: Gluten Free

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Comments

  4. Hi Sarah,
    Just a note to let you know that I have chosen your posts as one of my features for this weeks Real Food Fridays blog hop that goes live every Thursday @7pm EST. Thanks for being part of Real Food Fridays mission to make this world healthier. Have a healthy happy blessed holidays.

    Reply

  5. Hi Sarah,
    Wow what a delicious and healthy soup that would be great on a cold Winter’s day. I can’t believe Christmas is so close either and that we are going to be starting a New Year in a very short time. Thanks for sharing On Real Food Fridays. Pinned & twitted.

    Reply

  6. Oh my gosh, Sarah. This is one beautiful soup! The colour, flavours and textures with those pumpkin seeds all adds up to perfection! And your photos are blowing me away. I’m a big fan of leeks and just LOVE that you added maple syrup! Sharing 🙂

    Reply

    • Ahh, thanks Robyn! The more I cook with leeks the more I love them – they add so much flavor, I don’t know what I’d do without them!

      Reply

  7. This sounds delicious, can’t wait to give it a try. I’m not sure how much of the spicy pumpkin seeds would actually end up in the soup though…. probably have the same chance as raw cookie dough making it to my oven!

    Reply

  9. This sounds fantastic! I love the spicy pumpkin seeds and would never think of skipping them (even if I had to make an extra trip to the market 🙂 ). Visiting from #SitsBlogging.

    Reply

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