Sweet Potato and Red Curry Soup with Rice and Kale

I might as well just call this blog Whisk, Stir, and Blend: A Blog About Making Food from Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. I'm not ashamed - she's been keeping me well fed for the last few weeks. Here's a hearty soup with some Thai flavours for the cold, winter days: Sweet Potato and Red Curry Soup with Rice and Kale (p. 34).

Get your big soup pot ready. Heat some olive oil, and sauté 1 diced onion for about 5 minutes. Add three minced garlic cloves and 1 Tbsp mined fresh ginger, cook for about 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup basmati rice, 6 cups vegetable broth (I used salt-free chicken stock because the store was sold out of veggie stock! Seriously!) and salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil.

While it's coming up to a boil, get the veggies ready: clean and stem one bunch of kale (the recipe calls for purple kale - I don't think I've ever seen it so regular it is) and peel and dice two medium sweet potatoes into 1/2" chunks. Once the stock is boiling, turn it down to a simmer and stir in 2 Tbsp red curry paste (add more if you like it spicy). Throw in the kale and sweet potato. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked.

Add 1 can coconut milk (YUM), 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice and 1 Tbsp agave nectar (use honey if you don't have any). Serve with lots of cilantro and sriracha and enjoy! It's a lovely recipe when you're in the mood for a warming bowl of soup. It doesn't have a protein so you could add one if you want a more complete meal (like tofu, beans, chicken or whatever) but it doesn't really need it - it has a lot of different textures going on. It's creamy and flavourful and not too spicy. A nice way to use red curry paste other than making straight-up curry.