Pressure Cooker Curried Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

Recipe by Danielle Lavallee

This is the perfect soup for autumn. It is delicious, super easy to prepare in the pressure cooker, and absolutely packed with nutrients to help keep your immune system working at its best.

Here are some of the fabulous health benefits of this soup. It is…

• High in Plant Variety
  This soup contains 13 different plants, which gets you almost halfway to your goal of a least 30 different plants per week for optimal microbiome health. For more information on why plant variety matters, please see:
  www.thewell-nourishedbrain.com/blog/why-variety-matters

• High in Anthocyanins
  Anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. They have been shown to be protective against some of our major killers, such as heart disease and neurodegenerative disorders, and they are especially critical for optimal brain health. Anthocyanins are found in purple and red veggies and fruits, with the greatest concentrations located in the skins. So if possible, reach for a red onion and a purple shallot, and be sure to leave on the skins of your sweet potatoes and apples. For more information on anthocyanins, please see:
  www.thewell-nourishedbrain.com/blog/anthocyanins-purple-perfection

• High in Betacarotene and Vitamin A
  Betacarotene is an antioxidant that is easily identified by its orange hue. It is found in high concentrations in carrots and sweet potatoes. When consumed, betacarotene is converted into Vitamin A (retinol). Vitamin A is critical for maintaining healthy vision, immune function, and bone health. One cup of soup has 70% of our needed vitamin A for the day.

• High in Fiber.
  The USDA's recommendations for fiber are 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men each day. A big, hearty lunch including two cups of soup would give you over 7 grams of fiber, including both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber lowers heart disease risk and cholesterol, reduces the body’s ability to store fat, helps you to feel full, and slows digestion, which reduces blood sugar spikes and lowers diabetes risk. Insoluble fiber is a preferred food of our helpful gut microbes, promoting microbiome richness and diversity. For more information on the benefits of dietary fiber, please see:
  www.thewell-nourishedbrain.com/blog/have-you-counted-your-fiber-lately

• Low Calorie Density. High Nutrient Density.
  For optimizing nutritional excellence while supporting healthy weight maintenance, it is important that the majority of our food have a combination of low calorie density and high nutrient density. This soup is perfect for packing in nutrients while still being super satiating and low in calories. A large 2-cup of serving of soup has only 174 calories. As it is filled with legumes and sweet potatoes, two of the world’s most satiating foods, you will stay full for hours, all while being flooded with antioxidants and phytonutrients for very few calories. For more information on calorie density, please see:
  www.thewell-nourishedbrain.com/blog/calorie-density
  

You will love this soup for its comforting autumnal flavors,
and you can feel great about its powerful health benefits.
Yay! Soup for the win!

Special Equipment Needed:

• Pressure Cooker

• Immersion Blender or High Speed Blender
  

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion, diced

• 1 purple shallot, diced

• 3 celery ribs, chopped

• 8 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• ~1 inch freshly grated ginger (Freezing the ginger knob first makes grating the ginger much easier.)

• 4 sweet potatoes, scrubbed well and cubed with peeling left on
  (To increase the plant variety, I used two Beauregard and two Hannah sweet potatoes. Chose as many different varieties as you can find.)

• 2 apples, cored and cubed with peeling left on
  (To increase plant variety, I used two different kinds of apples, including a Fuji and a Honeycrisp. Choose two varieties you like best.)

• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed and sorted

• 1-2 tablespoons good quality curry powder (Depending on how much spice you like.)

• 1 tablespoon tamari

• 2 tablespoons miso paste

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 7 cups vegetables stock
  (I used 7 cups of water and 7 Massel’s 7 stock cubes.)
  

Optional for Serving:

• Chopped chives

• Cubed avocado

• Sumac dusted croutons (recipe below)

This recipe makes a large amount of soup, which is perfect for leftovers, lunches, and for freezing. If you prefer a smaller quantity, you can easily halve all the given measurements.

Instructions:

• Turn the pressure cooker to the sauté setting.

• Add the onion, shallot, celery, carrots, and a 1/4 cup of water.

• Water sauté until the onions are translucent (approximately 10 minutes).

• Add the ginger and garlic. Cook for another minute.

• Turn off the sauté setting.

• Add the remainder of your ingredients.

• Stir well and securely attach the pressure cooker lid.

• Cook the soup on high pressure for 25 minutes.

• Allow the steam to release either naturally or manually.

• Blend either a portion or all of your soup using an emersion blender or a high speed blender. If using a high speed blender, work in batches and be careful because the soup will be very hot. If possible, cover the blender lid with a kitchen towel for extra security.

• Taste and adjust your seasonings.

• Serve with optional chopped chives, sumac dusted croutons, or cubed avocado.
  
  

Soup Yield: Approximately 20 one-cup servings (Depending on the size of the veggies used.)

Soup Nutrition Information per each 1-cup serving (without croutons or avocado):
Calories: 87 Protein: 3.1 g Fat: .4 g Carbs: 15.3 g Fiber: 3.6 g Iron: 1.1 mg
Calcium: 30.6 mg Vitamin A: 496.3 IU Vitamin C: 3.6 mg Folate: 13.8 IU
Potassium: 313.2 mg Polyunsaturated Fat: .1 g Saturated Fat: 0 g
Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sumac Dusted Croutons

If you have someone in the house that needs extra calories, or you just enjoy a bit of crunch with your soup, you might consider making sumac dusted croutons. These are delicious, with a slight lemony undertone from the sumac. Just know that these will definitely up the caloric density of your meal. I make these for my hub, who burns through calories like nobody’s business. I choose to eat my soup without them. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Ingredients for Sumac Dusted Croutons:

• 4-5 slices of good crusty bread

• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
  (Heart-healthy and with a higher smoke point than olive oil.)

• 1 tablespoon ground sumac

• Salt

Instructions for Sumac Dusted Croutons:

• Cut the bread into slices and then rip these roughly with your hands into crouton shapes.

• Coat with avocado oil and toss

• Sprinkle with sumac and toss again

• Salt liberally

• Spread in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking tray.

• Bake at 350 until crispy (approximately 20-30 minutes), flipping halfway through cooking.

• Watch carefully so they don’t burn.

Wishing you a wonderful autumn!
🍁🍁🍁