Curried sweet potato stew

Mashed sweet potatoes, left over from one of last week's weeknight suppers, inspired this thick, creamy soup. It is both sweet and spicy.

Vegan curried sweet potato soup

2 T. olive oil
1 T. mustard seeds
1 1/2 T. curry powder
1/2 t. cumin (most curry powders contain cumin, but I like extra)
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 sweet potatoes, baked and skins removed
2 c. water
2/3 c. Coffee Rich vegan creamer*
3 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
Squirt of Sriracha sauce
Optional: 1/4 c. green peas, fresh or frozen

In a soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the mustard seeds, cooking until they begin to pop. Stir in the curry powder and cumin. Sautee for a minute or so to form a paste, then stir in the onion and garlic. Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork or hand masher and add to the soup pot. Add the water. Cover, turn up the heat, and bring to a boil. When boiling, add the Coffee Rich, brown sugar, salt, and Sriracha.

Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for a few minutes (longer if you want some of the liquid to boil off), then cover and simmer for at least twenty minutes (longer if you want... it brings out the flavor of the curry). Add the optional green peas in the last few minutes of simmering.

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*Coffee Rich is one of those inexpensive vegan edibles whose makers may or may not realize that their product is vegan, and probably don't give a damn, really. They certainly don't market it as vegan, although the Rich company is committed (it seems) to creating dairy-free foods. Anyway, the company makes the awesome soy-based creamer used in this recipe (and also used in my morning cup of coffee), as well as Rich Whip--the soy-based whipped "cream" with which Ben and I were obsessed during the summer of 2007. Tragically, we can't obtain Rich Whip in Minneapolis. My treasured Coffee Rich, though, is available at the Uptown Rainbow in the freezer section. If you don't have Rich's, you can use the more expensive (and, in my experience, thinner) creamer by Silk brand. It is almost certainly less unhealthy.