Just like salad, a healthy bowl of soup has so many health benefits. A lot of people love soup, and can survive on it every day. Having a bowl of soup before your main meal does make a lot of difference. The advantage of soups is that, you can blend more than two or three ingredients and still relish the taste of each one individually, unless you decide to mash it.
So this pumpkin, sweet potato, and leek soup is one of the nutritious blends of soups. You can mash it or use cubes. You can also use the shredded vegetables instead of cubes. Soups are best known to increase the appetite. They are also packed with many nutritional values with all essential vitamins.
Health Benefits
You will find pumpkin is a highly nutritious-dense food. Pumpkin is rich in vitamins and minerals but low in calories. Pumpkin seeds, leaves, and juices all pack a great nutritional punch.
Sweet potatoes are also a rich source of fiber, and they also contain a lot of vitamins and minerals including iron, calcium, selenium. They’re a good source of most of our B vitamins and vitamin C.
Leeks have antioxidants, antimicrobial properties, and liver-protecting properties and they also Reduce the level of liver enzymes. Leeks are also known for reducing fatty liver (liver triglyceride accumulation) caused by high-fat diets. Leeks improve lipid profile by decreasing total cholesterol and triglyceride levels while raising good cholesterol levels.
Ingredients
cooking pumpkin - small and cubed: 1
leek stalks large - finely chopped: 6
sweet potatoes/yams - cubed: 6
carrots medium - chopped: 4
can coconut milk: 1
container vegetable stock - use about 800 ml: 1
garlic cloves - thinly sliced: 5
Red onion -thinly sliced: ½
coconut oil
ground nutmeg
cinnamon
ground pepper
sea salt
few dashes of hot sauce (optional)
How To Make Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, and Leek Soup
- Sauté onion and garlic in coconut oil on low-medium heat until they become translucent.
- Add leeks and let it cook until soft.
- Add chopped pumpkin, sweet potato/yams, and carrot to the pot.
- Pour the vegetable broth and bring it to boil.
- Reduce heat to medium and continue until these veggies are thoroughly cooked.
- Season with a few teaspoons of ground nutmeg and/or cinnamon.
- Take an immersion hand blender and puree the soup until smooth.
- Add in coconut milk slowly, and continue blending until desired consistency is reached.
- Allow time to simmer on low heat for flavors to melt together.
- Serve it in a bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and ground pepper.
- Complete the dish by adding some hot sauce if you wish.
TIP: Add in an extra spoonful of coconut milk to give it a pretty swirl in the end.
Trivia
Did you know that potato soups are originated in Wales?
Did you also know that Pumpkins are 90% water?