Cold Sweet Potato-Ginger Soup

I like thick soup, even during the summer. But so many cold soups are more light and brothy, and I couldn't find any recipes for a cold soup with sweet potato. Mostly my searches turned up sweet potato soup to make when you have a cold.

So I took matters into my own hands, and put this soup together.

It is a simple recipe which has the thickness of a good hardy winter soup, but is great chilled, especially with a little cream over the top.

Ingredients

• 1 lb sweet potatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 in ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2-1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup water
• 1-2 tbsp cream per serving (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cut sweet potatoes into roughly 1-in cubes. Place in bowl, add olive oil, shake to coat.
2. Spread potatoes on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake until soft and slightly brown, stirring occasionally (approx. 30-40 min).
3. Make a white sauce. Melt butter in saucepan. Slowly add flour, stirring constantly, until it forms a paste.
4. Add milk, ginger, and cumin, still stirring occasionally to keep the sauce from sticking.
5. After 2-3 minutes, add the potatoes and 1/2 cup of water.
6. Use an immersion blender, or a food processor to get soup to desired consistency. You may need to add more water at this point. I left mine fairly thick, and I used about 1 cup of water. If you want a lighter soup, add more water.
7. There was still a bit of texture after I used the immersion blender on my soup, thanks to the potato peel and the ginger that didn't get chopped up all the way. I personally like that, but it is a matter of opinion.
8. Chill soup for at least two hours. Letting it sit overnight gives the flavours even more time to combine. (Yay for leftovers, right?).
9. Serve with cream drizzled over the top, if desired. I like the depth cream gives the soup, but it's up to you. 

I like bread with my soup, and I use this recipe a lot. It's about an hour from start to finish, which means that I don't have to plan that far ahead. To go with the soup, I added 1 tsp of fresh, finely chopped ginger, and 1 tsp of turmeric.