Sweet Potato Soup

photo credit

Last weekend, I discovered that we had two large sweet potatoes left from the holidays Thanksgiving (I had no idea they last that long!).  Since we arleady have some Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili in the freezer, I needed to figure out some other way to use them.  Soups and casseroles were on the menu for the week, so it would be a while before I would be serving anything that could use sweet potatoes as a side dish. 

I decided to try something new and threw together a really quick and easy sweet potato soup.  Since we already had meals planned for the week, I only ate a small serving of this along with a salad and some leftover omelet before putting the rest of the soup into the freezer for another night in the future.  I'm bummed that I didn't get a picture before freezing it, but I wanted to share the recipe with you now anyway. 

Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 slices bacon, diced
• 2 cups assorted veggies (onions, celery, carrot), finely diced
• 2 large sweet potatoes, diced and pre-cooked
• chicken broth
• evaporated milk
• salt and pepper

Directions:

• In a large pot or dutch oven, cook diced bacon to desired done-ness.  (I cooked mine until is was almost crisp.) 
• Remove bacon from pan and set aside on paper towels to absorb the grease.  Do not drain grease from pot.
• Add chopped veggies to bottom of pot in the hot bacon grease and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are tender.
• Remove vegetables, straining as much of the grease as possible, set aside.
• Drain grease from pot. 
• To the pot, add chicken broth, evaporated milk, and salt and pepper to taste and allow to cook over medium heat until bubbly.
• Add in the pre-cooked sweet potatoes, vegetables and bacon. 
• Mix until well-combined.
• Cover and reduce heat.  Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring often.
• If you like, lightly mash the potatoes with a hand masher.

Notes:

• I really enjoyed this soup.  It was so easy and so pantry friendly.  The vegetables I used in the soup, were odds and ends left after chopping the veggies I needed for other recipes.  The rest of the ingredients I had in the pantry. 

This recipe has been linked to the following blog carnivals and linky parties: 

• Delicious Dishes at It's a Blog Party!
• Made From Scratch Tuesday at From Mess Hall To Bistro 
• Tuesday Glam Party at Giggles, Glitz & Glam