Creamy Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

3 Tbsp butter, divided
1 c chopped onion
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
4 3/4 cubed peeled sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
3 1/2 c water
3 c chicken broth
3 c chopped carrot (about 1 lb)
1/4 c half-and-half
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 c reduced fat sour cream
2 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Move onion mixture to side of pan; add remaining 2 Tbsp butter to open space in pan. Increase heat to medium-high; cook 1 minute or until butter begins to brown. Add sweet potatoes, 3 1/2 c water, broth, and carrot; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Place half of soup mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid spatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining soup mixture. Stir in half-and-half, salt, and pepper. Ladle about 1 c soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with about 2 tsp sour cream and 3/4 tsp parsley.

Yield: 8 servings

From Cooking Light Magazine November 2009

Ken's rating: ****
Chalsea's rating: ****
This tasted absolutely delicious and I would make it again and again! However, it did not turn out all creamy and chunky like the picture in the magazine. I don't know if I screwed it up and put too much liquid in, but next time I will reduce the amount of water and broth or increase the amount of carrots and sweet potatoes. Still tasted amazing, just was a little thin.