Sweet Yam Soup

Talking with another vegetarian the other day I was asked if I had ever cooked with oat milk. “Goat milk?” I clarified. “No, doofus, oat milk. Like in oat meal”. “I’m sorry” I replied. “My hearing is not as good as it once was. And the name’s Randy, not Rufus”.

I may be a little slow on the uptake on occasion but I jumped on the idea of developing a recipe where I could substitute oat milk for cow’s milk. I immediately thought of using it in a soup. Oat milk would probably not work well in a savory soup because of its naturally and very slightly sweet taste. It would work in a sweet, spicy soup and I knew just the recipe.

I thought of making oat milk from scratch but after looking at a few oat milk recipes and reading the comments I decided to purchase it instead. I use Pacific Natural Foods organic oat milk that can be found at Rainbow Bridge. It is a perfect substitute in my Sweet Yam Soup recipe.

To make this a vegan soup, substitute extra virgin olive oil for butter. A good complement to this soup is Irish Soda Bread. For a dairy free version of the soda bread, substitute oat milk for cow’s milk and extra virgin olive oil for the butter.

Here's how my Sweet Yam Soup is made:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium sweet onion (chopped)

2 small celery stalks (chopped – reserve leaves for garnish)

1 medium leek (sliced white and pale green parts only)

1 large garlic clove (chopped)

1 1/2 pounds red yams (about 3 medium yams - peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces)

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/2 cups organic oat milk

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 apple (your choice - Honey Crisp is good)

Directions: Melt butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add celery stalks, leek and sauté for another 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes more.

Add yams, vegetable stock, cinnamon stick, and nutmeg; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return to pot.

Add oat milk and maple syrup and stir low heat for a few minutes. Do not bring to a boil. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Core and cut apple into chunks. Put 5 or 6 apple pieces on bottom of soup bowl. Ladle soup over apples. Garnish with celery leaves and serve warm.