Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup

Found another can of coconut milk near its date and decided to make soup.  I'm no longer hoarding canned sweet potatoes, which are super spendy, now that I can make my own for half the price.  I do like baked sweet potatoes and sweet potato toast, but sometimes a recipe calls for the texture of canned.

The recipes I found are generally Indian and served hot.  I was shooting for a summer soup and struck out on my own.  I wanted it to have a faintly North African flair, to go with the tilapia's Mediterranean theme.

For something so simple, this was really good.  The mix of sweet and savory spices keep it from being a dessert, but if you omitted the onion you could run this through the ice cream maker or make popsicles.  I may have to try that.

*1 small onion, diced
1 Tb olive oil
1/2 tsp each salt, paprika, cumin, and cinnamon
1/4 tsp each ginger and sumac
1 15 oz can sweet potatoes
*1 15 oz can lite coconut milk

1.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Cook the onion and spices in it until softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes.

2.  Empty sweet potato and its juices into food processor.  Add onion mixture and purée until smooth.

3.  Return purée to saucepan and add coconut milk.  Heat until smooth.  If desired, thin soup with water or broth.

4.  Soup can be served hot or chilled.

Difficulty rating  π