Thanksgiving Recipe Series

Hello peoples!! Are you as excited as I am that the most delicious holiday of the year is right around the corner??!! I thought that it would be a good idea to do a Thanksgiving Recipe Series for the next couple of weeks leading up to the BIG day. I know lots of people are scrambling trying to find those crowd-pleaser recipes guaranteed to impress the fam, so I'm gonna try to help you out.

Since 2004 when I moved to DC and my friends and I were forced to make our own Thanksgiving together, I've been trying out all sorts of different recipes, some that I've liked, others that I (and my dinner guests) could've done without. So follow me these next couple of weeks as I share my favorite Thanksgiving recipes, including my mom's bacon-wrapped oven-roasted turkey recipe. Yes, I said BACON-wrapped!

For today, we're going to start off with probably the easiest soup you've ever made. It's Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Soup. You can serve it as an appetizer or as part of the main course. You can even substitute the sweet potatoes for butternut squash, which I've done on numerous occasions. Best thing about this soup... ZERO fat! Kinda helps make up for the other, not so health-conscious recipes. :)

Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 red peppers, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 quart vegetable stock (I used Kitchen Basics Vegetable Stock b/c it's lower in sodium than many other stocks)
• 1 1/4 cups dry white wine
• 1 cup sherry wine (if you don't have sherry, just add 1 more cup of veggie stock instead)
• hot sauce, to taste
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

1. Put the sweet potatoes, red peppers, carrots, onions, garlic, veggie stock, and wine in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.

2. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the veggies get soft.

3. Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and a generous dash of hot sauce (if you like a little kick). Serve warm.

More to come!!! Stay tuned...