Yam & Peanut Soup

(from “Hometown Cooking” Dec 2001 mag NOTE: out of publication)

My Dad makes this a lot. It's one of my favorites soups. A good one to freeze in ziplock bowls for later eating.

Yield: 12 side dish or 6 main dish servings (doubled recipe)

• 6 cups peeled, sliced yams or sweet potatoes (about 2 to 3 lbs)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium onion)
• 1/2 cup chopped celery (1 stalk)
• 4 tbls unsalted butter
• 8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth *
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter (real)
• 1/2 tsp. pepper (or a sprinkling)
• Chopped peanuts (optional)
• Snipped fresh chives (optional)

In a large saucepan, cook yams or sweet potatoes, onion, and celery in hot butter over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover: simmer about 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Transfer a quarter of the mixture to a food processor bowl or blender container. Cover; process or blend until smooth. Repeat with remaining mixture.

Transfer all of the mixture back into the saucepan. Add peanut butter and pepper. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until combined and heated through. If desired, sprinkle each serving with chopped peanuts and chives, and season with additional pepper.

TIPS – We use yams rather than sweet potatoes. We remove the skins from the yams by peeling them and slicing them into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. We also use a large pot rather than a saucepan since the recipe is doubled. This helps by not having to use additional utensils and containers. Rather than transferring the mixture to a blender or food processor we use an electric hand blender so that we can leave everything in the large pot. We do not use the optional chopped nuts or chives but if we do we'll include our advice in a recipe update. * We do not use the reduced fat chicken broth – rather we use Knorr brand Chicken flavor bouillon (8 cups water and 8 teaspoons powdered bouillon).

Per serving: 133 calories, 11 grams total fat (4 grams saturated fat), 11 milligrams cholestrol, 483 milligrams sodium, 4 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 6 g protein, Diet exchanges: 1/2 starch, 2 fat.