Vegan Sweet Potato Soup Topped with Kale Pesto

Ingredients

• Soup:
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups vegetable broth, or more to taste
• ¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
• Pesto:
• 1 cup kale, stemmed and chopped
• ½ cup English walnuts, coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• ½ lemon, juiced, or more to taste
• 1 clove garlic
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste

Step 1

Warm some olive oil in a large pot over medium heat until it’s shimmering. Toss in the chopped celery and onion, and cook them for about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally until they soften up. Add the garlic next and cook for another minute until you can really smell that lovely aroma.

Step 2

Now stir in the broth along with turmeric, ginger, cayenne, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once it’s bubbling, carefully pour everything into a high-speed blender. Blend on high for about a minute until smooth.

Step 3

Add the mashed sweet potato and coconut milk to the blender, then keep blending for around 4 minutes until the soup is nice and creamy. If it feels too thick, just thin it out with a splash of broth or water. Pour the soup back into the pot and keep it warm while you make the pesto.

Step 4

For the kale pesto, combine the kale, walnuts, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor. Blend on high, pausing to scrape down the sides as needed, until it forms a paste—this usually takes about 3 minutes. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, a tablespoon at a time, blending after each addition. If the pesto feels too thick, add a bit more oil or lemon juice until it’s just right.

Step 5

When you’re ready to serve, ladle the warm soup into bowls and top each one with a generous spoonful of the kale pesto. Enjoy!