sweet potato and carrot soup with chilli and coconut

i struggle with soup recipes a bit. it seems pointless giving quantities when in reality all i ever do is look at what it's in the fridge and proceed accordingly. today, we had a leftover chicken carcass and i had another one in the freezer (kind of useful to know you can freeze them for days when making stock after sunday dinner is the last thing you want to do). so i made stock, half of which i froze, and then thought i'd make soup with some slightly soggy carrots and two sweet potatoes we had lying around the fridge. a bit of chilli and a some coconut and you get a perfect spicy, creamy, sweet soup. even better the next day.

sweet potatoes aren't strictly speaking paleo (too sweet, funnily enough) but i think they're okay for days when you've been to the gym. also, we've not had a lot to eat today, give or take a whole chicken between the two of us.

SWEET POTATO AND CARROT SOUP WITH CHILLI AND COCONUT

2 shallots, chopped
2 small leeks, chopped
5-6 small carrots, roughly chopped
2 large sweet potatoes, roughly chopped (same size chunks as carrots)
1/2 tsp chilli flakes or to taste or use chilli powder
2 mild dried chilli (get kashmiri ones if you can - they look scary but are very mild. or skip altogether)
1 sachet creamed coconut - or about 3/4 of cup of coconut milk

1 l chicken or veg stock
olive oil
seasoning

gently sweat the shallots and the leeks in olive oil till soft and translucent. add the carrots, the sweet potatoes, the coconut and the chillis. add the hot stock, season and cook for 20 mins or until the vegetables are soft. pure in a blender and serve with a dollop of creme fraiche, a little bit of chopped parsley and some extra chilli flakes.

you can make this with butternut squash or pumpkin - i don't think the ratio of veg matters that much as long as you don't overdo the carrots.