Before I figured out what I wanted to do with my life (well, sort of), I worked in the kitchen of a popular coffee house close to the university.  We pretty much just sold sandwiches and soups, so I quickly developed an expertise for slicing cucumbers and tomatoes and creating, on a daily basis, what I hoped would be an enticing and interesting sounding soup.

I spent my mornings chopping and sauteeing and boiling while sipping on botched lattes and eating broken cookies and cupcakes.  It was a pretty simple life, and it was here that I really started developing an appreciation for and ability to cook.

One of the soups that has remained in my food repertoire even after I traded in my apron for “slacks” and other business casual attire is this sweet potato coconut one.

Here’s what you need:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 large onion, diced

1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, depending on your preference)

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp powdered ginger

Here’s what you do:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Throw the sweet potatoes, onion and spices in a medium-sized pot and add water – just enough to cover the veggies.  Place on the stove over medium heat.

Once the oven has preheated, spread the coconut in a layer on a baking sheet and place in the oven.  Watch it carefully, stirring as needed until the coconut is a golden brown colour.

Add half of the coconut to the simmering vegetables.

Allow the vegetables to cook thoroughly, until they are quite soft.  Remove from the heat and blend the soup using an immersion blender or a food processor.  Note:  if using a food processor, you may wish to work in batches so as not to overflow the processor, and you may wish to allow the soup to cool a little before blending so you don’t burn yourself!

Sprinkle some of the remaining toasted coconut onto the soup for serving.

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