Sean's Corn Soup

My husband is great at making soups. He just makes stuff up right out of his head and it turns out spectacular. And with tonight's dinner, our two picky eaters ate this up and asked for more!

Corn soup garnished with paprika and green salsa from Moes.

Sean's Corn Soup

1/2 cup dry white beans
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 medium white sweet potato, peeled and chopped
4-6 cups chicken broth (or vegetable stock)
1 16oz bag of frozen corn
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ginger

Cook 1/2 cup dry white beans in water for about an hour and a half, or until soft. Set aside.

In a saute pan, saute onion and celery in some oil on high heat, letting them sit to char a little. After several minutes, add the chopped white sweet potato. Turn the heat down and deglaze the pan by adding a little bit of water or broth (it will sizzle loudly) and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon (this gets up the char which adds flavor).

In a large pot, combine the onion mixture, white beans, broth, and bag of corn. Boil until cooked. Puree (we use our stick blender). Add spices.

S.P.A.C.L.E. Soup

We got this soup recipe from allrecipes.com, but we have altered it a little. Originally, Sean named it "spackle" soup:

Sweet Potato, Apple, Carrot, LEntil

but I don't know that we've ever used the lentils. The first time I made it, I didn't know what lentils looked like, and I grabbed our barley by mistake. It tasted great.

(the original name of the soup is Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple and Red Lentil Soup...so despite our nickname, it really is a delicious fall/winter soup)

S.P.A.C.L.E. Soup

1/2 stick of butter
4 cups vegetable broth
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 apples, cored and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup lentils, barley or cooked white beans
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Place chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, and onion in the pot. Stir and cook for 10 minutes.

Add vegetable broth, spices and lentils/barley/beans. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes (until vegetables are soft).

Puree with a hand blender.*

Optional toppings: cheese, sour cream, yogurt, croutons, crackers

* if you don't have a hand blender, use a regular blender which will have to be done in batches, or something else that can puree.