Creamy Carrot Soup made Healthier (Potage Crécy)

The local farmer's market is coming to a close in a few weeks.  The summer fruits are slowly being replaced by root vegetables and winter squashes.  This year, I am trying to adopt a better attitude to the changing of the seasons.  This means instead of looking at those root vegetables with disdain because they aren't summer fruits, I'm going to embrace them!  Yesterday, carrots and sweet potatoes looked really good at the market, so I made them into this sweet soup.  I made it early in the day, refrigerated it and served it cold along with a piece of whole wheat bread smeared with peanut butter.  It was a yummy, healthy way to herald the first day of autumn.

I worked from Mark Bittman's recipe for Potage Crécy found in his cookbook titled The Best Recipes in the World but made it a little healthier to suit my needs.  Enjoy!

Creamy Carrot Soup (Potage Crécy) by Joie de vivre
Makes 4 hearty servings

Ingredients:


1 1/2 Tbls. olive oil
1 small onion (4.5 oz.), chopped
1 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small sweet potato (6.75 oz.), peeled and chopped
1 tomato, chopped (don't worry about peeling or seeding)
1 tsp. salt (more or less to taste)
pepper to taste
2 tsp. sugar
4 c. chicken stock
1 c. water
1/2 c. light sour cream

Directions:

1.  Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil.  Add the onion, carrots, sweet potato, tomato, salt, pepper and sugar.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes until the vegetables start to break down.  If the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pan, lower the heat slightly and add 1/4 c. water.
2.  When the vegetables are tender, add the stock and 1 c. water.  Raise the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil.  Once the soup is boiling, lower the heat to low and gently simmer the soup for 15 minutes.
3.  Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until completely smooth.  Place the soup in the refrigerator and refrigerate until cold.
4.  When ready to serve, stir in the sour cream.  Serve cold.