One Great . . . healthful sweet potato broth

The mother/daughter team of Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams have a lovely book that landed on my desk, "Soul Food Love: Healthy Recipes Inspired By One Hundred Years of Cooking in a Black Family" (Clarkson Potter, $30).

The book is a mashup of one family's American history, with recipes that have been subtly changed and updated to be healthful while staying delicious, satisfying and true to the Randall family's heritage.

One recipe really caught my eye: Sweet potato broth is a simple way to get a meatless base for soups or grain dishes with plenty of flavor but not a lot of fat. It was so easy to make, I whipped up a pot of it while making a different dinner Sunday night. The result is only slightly thicker than chicken broth, with a sweet/savor flavor and a lovely golden color.

And now I get to use it all week to cook quinoa, kale and maybe even a sweet potato soup. This one will definitely find a spot in my regular rotation.

Sweet Potato Broth

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced

3 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 large sweet potato
5 whole cloves
Salt and pepper to taste

HEAT the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Saute the onion, celery and carrot until just softened.

PEEL and quarter the sweet potato while the onion, celery and carrot are cooking. Add to the pot with 6 cups of water, cloves, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the sweet potato is completely soft, about 30 minutes.

USE a slotted spoon to remove and discard the cloves. Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender, or with an immersion blender. Cool, cover and refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze up to 2 months. (It will separate, but you can whisk it back together before using.) Use as a base for soup (try black-eyed pea and kale) or for cooking grains or vegetables.

YIELD: About 1 quart.