We generally don’t eat white potatoes — if we’re going to eat a starchy meal, we prefer to get the added nutrition found in sweet potatoes. But we inherited some leftovers, including ham, so rather than let it go bad I turned it all into a thick, satisfying, winter soup.

The starchy potatoes thicken this warm, flavorful soup.

  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • Olive oil
  • 10-15 small potatoes, boiled and roughly cubed
  • 2-3 C chicken stock
  • 1 can coconut milk (not light)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
  • A few shakes each of dried parsley and basil (I would have preferred about 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives, but the garden is frozen!)
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 1-2 C chopped ham

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onions until they start to turn clear. Add the potato cubes, stock, coconut milk, a few generous grinds of salt and pepper, the crushed red pepper, and herbs.  Simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes. Blend together with an immersion blender. You can leave some chunks of potato if you want, or blend until it’s smooth. Add the ham cubes and garlic, simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve warm.