My changes come from laziness in measuring (Rachel Ray doesn't measure!), needing to use something up or after a taste or a good smell I think, "hmmm this would be good with this and I have some." The nice thing about soup is that it is very flexible :-).
A note about curry: Curry is a blend of spices. Each company has their own version. If you don't like one, try a different brand. We discovered a spice store when we lived in Torrance, Penzeys. They had bottles of each of the spices that you could smell. I loved going there, but my sniffer would stop working about half way around the store. We happen to have 3 of their 9 curry blends, and I used a little of each one - Sweet curry and Hot curry on the chicken; and Sweet curry and Maharajah in the soup.
This one turned out incredible!!!!! It doesn't look like it would be a full meal, but it was very filling.
2-3 Chicken breasts
Curry powder
2-3 Tbl butter
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots (I did a handful of the baby carrots), chopped
3-4 stalks of celery (my celery was on the small side), chopped
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 box chicken broth
1 sweet potato, chopped
1 c. heavy cream
1/2 salt
Cover chicken breasts liberally with curry powder. Bake chicken (350° for about 1 hour), chop into bite size pieces.
Saute onion, celery and carrots in the butter. Add the curry spices let cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter until fairly blended. Add the chicken broth, stirring to blend. Let simmer for about 30 minutes.
Add the sweet potato and cook until the potatoes are tender.
Blend the soup (hand mixer or food processor). Stir in the cream, salt and the chicken, heat the soup gently on simmer.
Next time I think I will use coconut milk with the cream, maybe 3/4 c. coconut milk and 1/4 c. cream.
