Smoky Sweet Potato Chicken Stoup

Rachael Ray always wins me back eventually. I just happened to catch an episode of 30-Minute Meals last Friday and she made Smoky Sweet Potato Chicken Stoup - it looked so amazing that I wanted to lick the TV. So I looked it up this week on foodnetwork.com and here we are! It looks kind of tricky because there are a lot of ingredients but it really isn't too hard to make. I still think that Rachael relies on her superhuman chopping and dicing abilities to get these recipes done in 30 minutes. However, us mere mortals will still be able to make this "stoup" in 45! I served this with pepperjack grilled cheese sandwiches...quesadillas would be fun too!

SMOKY SWEET POTATO CHICKEN STOUP
Rachael Ray, foodnetwork.com
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

2 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled
2 ribs celery
1 large onion, peeled and halved
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, finely chopped, plus a spoonful of sauce from the can
Salt and black pepper
1 t dry thyme
1 bay leaf
1 C dry white wine
5 C chicken stock
1 large sweet potato
3/4-1lb chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced
1/4 C cilantro leaves, a generous handful, roughly chopped
1/2 C sour cream for garnish, optional

DIRECTIONS:

Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat with 2 T of extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 turns of the pan.

While soup pot heats, chop carrots in half lengthwise and then slice into thin half-moons. Add the carrots to the pot while it heats, stirring to coat the carrots in the oil. Chop and drop in celery and onion, chopping them as small as you can without driving yourself crazy. Add the garlic, chipotle, and adobo sauce and stir to combine. Season the veggies with salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook the veggies together for 1 minute. Add the wine and reduce 1 minute. Add the stock to the pot, cover the pot, and raise the heat to high. Bring the stoup to a boil, remove the cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into quarters lengthwise, then thinly slice into bite size pieces, Add the cut chicken and sweet potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked through. Turn the heat off, add scallions and cilantro. Serve each portion of stoup with a dollop of sour cream on top.