This is such a fantastic soup for a cold day, it's filling and really satisfies the craving for hearty comforting food without all the calories.

Ingredients:
4 medium sweet potatoes
6 cloves of garlic
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, cut into 4 pieces each
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups water (if needed)
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon oil
Chicken, cooked (optional)
Toasted pecans (optional)
Red chili powder, to taste
Salt, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F. 

Wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour or until a knife easily slices through it. 

Remove the skin from the garlic and place on a sheet of tin foil. Fold the foil in half and then fold the ends over to create a sealed "pocket" with the foil and the garlic inside. Place in the oven with your potatoes for approximately 40 minutes until the garlic is soft and roasted.  

In the meantime, in a large stock pot, sauté onion in oil until it is translucent (approximately 5 minutes). Add the chicken broth and carrots. Allow it to come to a boil and turn down the temperature to low heat. Let it continue to simmer until the carrots become soft, approximately 30 - 40 minutes. 

When the potatoes have finished cooking carefully remove them from the oven and peel the skin. Add the baked potato and roasted garlic to your carrot/broth mixture. Mash it a little bit using a spoon. 

Using either an immersion blender or food processor process the mixture until it is nice and smooth. ***Note: if you are using a food processor use extra caution because hot liquids often "pop" so do it in small batches on the pulse setting***

Return to stockpot and add water as required, if your soup is too thick add more water. 

Taste the soup before adding salt, sometimes there is enough salt in the broth you use. Add salt and chilli powder to taste, I find this soup tastes great with a bit of kick to it so I add the chilli powder pretty generously. 

Add the parsley. Let it come to a boil and then simmer for approximately 10 minutes. 

Serve with chicken and pecans to make it a complete meal or keep it lighter by skipping either. You can also serve with a slice of toasted bread or crackers.