Curried Sweet Potato and Millet Soup Recipe

In a large saucepan or stockpot, heat oil over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring, until carrots have softened, about 7 minutes.

Add garlic, ginger, curry powder and orange zest and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add sweet potato and stock and stir well. Bring to a boil. Stir in millet. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until millet is tender and flavours have blended, about 30 minutes.

Add orange juice and maple syrup and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish with toasted walnuts and a drizzle of yogurt, if using.

Makes 6 servings.

Tips: To get this quantity of puréed sweet potato, bake, peel and mash 2 medium sweet potatoes, each about 6 oz (175 g). You can also use a can (14 oz/398 mL) of sweet potato purée.

While it's not necessary to toast millet, toasting does bring out its pleasantly nutty flavour. To toast millet, heat in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it crackles and releases its aroma, about 5 minutes.

Variation

Curried Sweet Potato and Quinoa Soup: Substitute an equal quantity of quinoa for the millet. Do not toast it, but rinse thoroughly before adding to the soup.

Excellent source of vitamin A and manganese. Good source of vitamin C, thiamine, folate, magnesium and zinc. Source of vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, calcium, phosphorus, iron and copper. Contains a high amount of dietary fibre.

Excerpted from The Complete Whole Grains Cookbook Copyright 2007 by Judith Finlayson. Excerpted by permission of Robert Rose. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.