Turn the Sweet Potato Soup Base into a meal with spicy chorizo, hearty chickpeas, and vibrant green kale. This makes a truly beautiful bowl of soup. If you'd rather keep this soup vegetarian, try the grain-based chorizo substitue from Field Roast, one of the first meat substitutes I've actually liked. It's available in natural food stores in almost every state and through www.fieldroast.com.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Sweet Potato Soup Base, defrosted if frozen
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup water or vegetable stock
• 1 (3- or 4-ounce) link fresh Mexican chorizo
• 1/3 cup cooked chickpeas, preferably homemade, rinsed and drained
• 4 or 5 leaves Tuscan kale (sometimes called black, dinosaur, or lacinato kale), stripped from the stem and torn into bite-size pieces

Directions

1 Pour the soup base into a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the water and cook until the soup is bubbling hot, 3 to 4 minutes. Add more water if you want the soup thinner. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and keep it hot.

2 Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Slice through the chorizo casing and squeeze the sausage into the skillet. Cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until the chorizo's fat starts to melt, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chickpeas and cook until the chorizo and chickpeas brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the kale and stir-fry until the kale wilts slightly and brightens in colour, 1 to 2 minutes.

3 Pour the soup base into a soup bowl, top with the chorizo mixture, and eat.

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Excerpted from Serve Yourself by Joe Yonan Copyright © 2011 by Joe Yonan. Excerpted by permission of Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
I got the idea from Lidia Bastianich to make soup bases that pack a lot of flavour on the weekend, then freeze them and thaw them as needed, adding various ingredients on the fly to take them in different directions. I like to concentrate the base, which saves freezer space, and then thin it out when I make a finished soup. Before you thin it out (and jazz it up) for the final soup, this base may remind you of a certain fluffy Thanksgiving side dish (minus the mini-marshmallows, thankfully), but there are some key differences. Besides the lack of cream or sugar, the most important one is the cooking method: Rather than boiling peeled cubes of sweet potato, I like to roast them, concentrating the complex flavour, which is highlighted by subtle hints of thyme and curry. This makes an especially vibrant backdrop to such treatments as Sweet Potato Soup with Chorizo, Chickpeas, and Kale. There are many other possibilities. You can sprinkled ground chipotle or pimenton (smoked Spanish paprika) for heat and/or smoke, or add toasted pecans, yogurt (or sour cream or creme fraiche), and other sausages or cured meats.

Ingredients

• 2 (10- to 12-ounce) sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
• 1 small leek, white and pale greens, thinly sliced
• 2 sprigs thyme
• Kosher or sea salt
• Pinch of curry powder
• 2 cup lights chicken or vegetable stock, warmed

Directions
1 Preheat the oven to 425°F. Use a fork or sharp knife to prick the sweet potatoes in several places. Place on a piece of aluminum foil and bake until the sweet potatoes are tender and can be easily squeezed, 60 to 75 minutes. (Alternatively, to speed up the process, microwave the pricked sweet potatoes on High for 1 minute, then carefully transfer to the oven on a piece of foil. Baked until the potatoes are tender, 30 to 45 minutes.)

2 Pour the oil into a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. When it starts to simmer, add the carrots, celery, leek, thyme, and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine well, then decrease the heat to low, cover the pot, and allow the vegetables to sweat in their own juices until very soft, 10 to 15 minutes. (Take care not to allow the vegetables to burn.)

3 Scrape into the sauepan the soft flesh from the roasted sweet potatoes, add the curry powder, and stir to combine, mashing the sweet potato flesh with a spoon. The mixture will be chunky. Stir in the stock and combine well. Bring the mixture to a boil, then decrease the heat so the mixture gently simmers, and cook covered, but with the lid slightly ajar, for about 15 minutes to let the flavours meld. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then remove and discard the thyme.

4 Use a handheld immersion blender to puree the soup base, which will be very thick. (Alternatively, you can puree it in a blender or food processor. If using a blender, be sure to remove the center cap on the lid and cover with a dish towel to let steam escape, and work in small batches to avoid splattering the soup.) Taste and add salt if needed.

5 Let the soup base cool to room temperature. Divide it into 4 portions and use immediately, refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, or freeze in small containers or heavy-duty freezer-safe resealable plastic bags, pressing as much air out of the bag as possible before sealing it. It will keep frozen for several months.

Makes about 4 cups.

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BUY THIS BOOK
Excerpted from Serve Yourself by Joe Yonan Copyright © 2011 by Joe Yonan. Excerpted by permission of Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.