curried sweet potato & rice autumn soup/stew

sweet potato autumn soup/stew

Fall is my favorite season. And so far this fall is shaping up rather nicely. Thank you, Vancouver, for the sunshine, the warm days and the crisp evenings. You are a pleasure! I’m sure when the rainy, grey days seem to never end I’ll be thinking differently, but for now, all is good in my blissful autumnal world.

sweet potato autumn soup/stew

This past weekend, I got into the kitchen with the purpose of making it smell like fall. I wanted to make a soup stuffed with orange things: sweet potatoes, yams, and carrots. And I wanted the warm smell of curry to perfume the air and make everything cozy. So I chopped all my vegetables into a fine dice and got this soup going quickly. It’s an easy one and perfect to whip up for a weeknight meal. My husband and I were heading out to a show that evening (the band Caribou was in town & we weren’t going to miss them again), so this was a meal that could fill our bellies and give us the power to ride our bikes to a show downtown on a Sunday evening.

sweet potato autumn soup/stew

Now, as you can tell from the photos, this soup became more of a stew as I got caught up in cleaning and tidying. Now this wasn’t a bad thing. For my husband, an infamous soup-hater, this was in fact a wonderful thing! However, I do think this dish would work a bit better as a soup, especially since the vegetables are so small and uniformly diced. And I kind of miss soup because I am – unlike my husband – a bona fide soup person. The addition of rice in this dish is a nice element and because it’s incorporated into the dish rather than alongside, I think this gives more sway to the soup-side.

I used 2 kinds of curry paste as I was finishing one jar and starting on another. One was mild and the other was spicy and the flavours combined to a lovely lingering spice. But if you love your curry hot or mild, use what you like. But soup or stew, I’ll leave it up to you and your preferences.

autumnal stew

Elsewhere: I’ve been around all over the place in the last little while. Keep up with my every-Wednesday posts at Poppytalk where you’ll find me mixing up a lemon curd & yogurt breakfast parfait that tastes exactly like pie, stuffing a slew of peppadew peppers, whipping up homemade pizza pockets, and waxing about my sausage-making roots as I give a recipe for spicy sausage and peppers. At ReadyMade, I discuss some of my favorite tips for not wasting food and give a little looky-loo for the quick meal standby: the pita pizza.

41 comments to “curried sweet potato & rice autumn soup/stew”

  1. 1
    Tracy   October 6, 2010 at 12:27 pm

    I got my daily dose of beta carotene by the photos alone 🙂 Mmmm…Stew…I mean soup. Tis the season. I’d just need a hunk of crusty bread and full bodied red and I’ll be all set. Butter on the crusty bread wouldn’t hurt either. And then you dip the bread (which has been buttered) into the soup/stew and…

  2. 2
    newlywed   October 6, 2010 at 3:53 pm

    This looks wonderful! I love the combination of sweet potatoes and curry.

  3. 3
    bellcurves   October 6, 2010 at 5:55 pm

    this looks amazing! i myself am a fan of potato curries, so i think this is probably my kind of recipe. yay for fall, and yay for soups and stews!!

  4. 4
    Rachel   October 6, 2010 at 6:05 pm

    Curry and sweet potato are some of my favorite flavors, especially when they’re combined! This looks like the kind of stew I could eat for days and never get bored with!

  5. 5
    Maddie   October 6, 2010 at 6:30 pm

    I love the looks of this recipe—sounds like a great excuse to use curry paste, which I’ve never tried before.

    And I like what you say about “making it smell like fall.” My boyfriend, who is *not* a baker, got really pumped today about baking something with pumpkin for the same reason. This autumn thing is contagious!

  6. 6
    Meister @ Eat This Neighborhood   October 6, 2010 at 7:47 pm

    Thank you so much for this — it is *exactly* what I need, today, this week, this season. Yum.

  7. 7
    monika   October 6, 2010 at 8:28 pm

    Hmm, I still don’t know the difference between yams and sweet potatoes; I guess they’re not the same thing, are they! This stew/soup(stoup?) looks right up my alley!

  8. 8
    Joanne   October 7, 2010 at 3:18 am

    I’m more of a stew person myself so I’d be another happy bystander to all of your cleaning and tidying. (Did that sentence make sense at ALL?)

    I love the idea of evoking autumn through smell and taste. this sounds fabulous.

  9. 9
    lo   October 7, 2010 at 9:26 am

    Mmm. Sweet potatoes. My husband would love you for making this soup so much like a stew. He’s a big fan. In fact, I think one of the reasons he loves me so much is that I make my chili seriously thick and chock full of veg.

  10. 10
    Andrea   October 7, 2010 at 10:13 am

    This looks amazing but my husband will not eat anything wihtout meat in it. Would you recommend throwing in some pulled chicken or something for my purposes? Thanks! Love your food!

  11. 11
    riceandwheat   October 7, 2010 at 12:11 pm

    I have carrots AND sweet potatoes sitting at home right now – so this soup/stew is just asking to be made tonight! Can’t wait to make my kitchen smell like fall! Actually, I just discovered your blog through a link from Orangette and randomly saw that we also both know the lovely Ms. AraJane (although I can only claim to know her online self) – how funny! 🙂

  12. 12
    Becka   October 7, 2010 at 7:47 pm

    Mmm, yum! All of my favourite flavours, I can’t wait to try this!

  13. 13
    Foodie in Berlin   October 8, 2010 at 12:05 am

    Why don’t men like soups? Sounds like the title for some Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus type book. Your stew looks delicious and warming!

  14. 14
    Jessie   October 8, 2010 at 5:55 am

    looks like another really warm and filling comfy food recipe for fall. thanks!

  15. 15
    Brenda   October 8, 2010 at 6:54 am

    I made this last night and added red curry paste and a can of coconut milk for more thai flavor. It was so delicious. Thanks for another great recipe!

  16. 16
    kickpleat   October 8, 2010 at 8:30 am

    Tracy, I like what you’ve got going on there!

    Thanks Newlywed, they all work so nicely here.

    Bellcurves, I’m with you for soups and stews!

    Thanks Rachel, this only made enough for about 4 people, but it can easily be doubled.

    I use curry paste all the time, Maddie. Patak’s is my favorite brand – check it out!

    Glad I could help, Meister.

    Monika, I’ve always gone by light yellow = sweet potatoes, dark orange = yam. I think that’s correct! Yams have more moisture and are sweeter.

    Joanne, I gotchya 😉 Thanks!

    Lo, sounds like you’ve got a good chili recipe on the go!

    Andrea, you could definitely add in some pulled chicken! Good luck 🙂

    Thanks rice and wheat! Yes, I only know AraJane through the net as well (but I have a friend who’s met her in person and I know for a fact that she is just plain wonderful).

    It is all good flavours, enjoy, Becka!

    Yeah, what’s with that, Foodie?? Indeed. Thanks!

    Thanks Jessie.

    Brenda, I think coconut milk is an excellent addition. Glad you enjoyed it!

  17. 17
    Andrea   October 8, 2010 at 11:43 am

    Update: I made this with ground turkey and it blew our minds.

    Thanks Jeannette!!

  18. 18
    kickpleat   October 9, 2010 at 7:25 pm

    Andrea, so glad you enjoyed this!

  19. 19
    Bijoux   October 9, 2010 at 10:07 pm

    Yes, Patak’s curry paste is amazing! Curried sweet potatoes sounds delicious. I just picked up some sweet potatoes today and this may be the meal I prepare at some point over the long weekend.

  20. 20
    Nicky   October 10, 2010 at 10:50 am

    The colours of the stew are also very autumnal, or at least of the same colour as the leafs I can see on the floor outside the window in Oxford. I will give this dish a go, it looks ever so yummy!

  21. 21
    kickpleat   October 10, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    Bijoux, this meal is perfect for fall and I’m sure you’ll love it.

    Nicky, it’s true! The meal looks like fall and it tastes just a cozy.

  22. 22
    apocalypsebakery   October 11, 2010 at 4:27 am

    Mmmmm, yum yum! That looks incredible…I’m intrigued by the glug of maple syrup, I’d never have thought of that…I’ll be making this out of whatever is in the fridge tonight! Thanks!

  23. 23
    Heidi   October 12, 2010 at 8:52 am

    Funnily enough, I made this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/03/nigel-slater-lentil-pumpkin-soup-stew-baked-figs-recipes last week (topped with Greek yoghurt and with 4 cloves of garlic), and it was so good I’m making it again this weekend for the Friday-night part of my mother’s 70th birthday celebrations.

  24. 24
    kickpleat   October 12, 2010 at 9:12 am

    apocalypsebakery, the glug of syrup helps to tame some of that heat and gives a nice little kick into fall!

    Heidi, that’s definitely another wonderful looking fall recipe!

  25. 25
    beth @ baking therapy   October 13, 2010 at 5:38 pm

    I need to make this immediately!!! YUM!!!

  26. 26
    kickpleat   October 14, 2010 at 8:19 am

    Do it beth, it’s tasty good!

  27. 27
    Meghan   October 18, 2010 at 11:25 am

    YUM! This was super tasty. Shockingly I was out of rice when I tried it so I used quinoa instead – not bad and added an extra protein hit! Keep enjoying fall!

  28. 28
    kickpleat   October 18, 2010 at 7:26 pm

    Meghan, glad you tried it and that it’s so flexible. Quinoa would be great here, I’d imagine.

  29. 29
    Ashley   November 1, 2010 at 8:01 pm

    Fall’s my favourite season too. 🙂 This looks like such a nice warm and comforting dish.

  30. 30
    kickpleat   November 2, 2010 at 9:49 am

    Thanks Ashley, it is!

  31. 31
    Brad   November 25, 2010 at 4:22 pm

    This is what I am bringing to Thanksgiving tonight. I added some avocado though. Great recipe! Your blog is incredible. Going to make another batch this weekend to eat through out next week.

  32. 32
    Cassie   December 3, 2010 at 7:58 pm

    Yumm I made this soup a couple of weeks ago.
    i forgot to put the maple syrup in!!!
    I guess I better make it tonight!
    Absolutely DELICIOUS!

  33. 33
    Rhonda   January 9, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    It seems nobody else has asked this- is the rice uncooked before starting the stew? seems like using a mix of brown rice and white would mean the brown would not be done in the time alloted for the recipe. Living with a vegetarian, I’ve learned to love soups/stews for their ability to ‘flesh out’ (so to speak) a veggie meal.

  34. 34
    kickpleat   January 9, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    Rhonda, the rice is uncooked and I did use a mix of both white and brown and if you need more time, cook it a bit longer. Trust me, it will work out in the end 🙂

  35. 35
    Christina   December 20, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    I tried out this recipe, and I liked it very much. I ended up removing the rice, adding cooked adzuki beans, and topping it with a bit of coconut milk because I managed to add in too much curry paste.

  36. 36
    Kate @eatrecyclerepeat   June 9, 2012 at 4:43 pm

    This looks lovely and simple – I think I might try and do a crockpot version since it is getting a bit hot for cooking around here. I love your red pot too! Is it Le Creuset?

  37. 37
    Caitlin   January 19, 2016 at 8:11 am

    Do you think I could put all of this in the crockpot? We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel so we’re limited on appliances. It sounds amazing!

  38. 38
    kickpleat   January 19, 2016 at 11:10 am

    Caitlin, I really don’t have much experience with crock pots – I’d quickly research uncooked rice and see if it would cook in time, if so, go for it! And let me know how it goes 🙂

Leave a comment