Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes.
Add garlic, celery, thyme, paprika, cumin, oregano, chili flakes salt and pepper. Toss everything together and cook for 5 more minutes.
Add all remaining ingredients to the pot except for the kale. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 10-15 more minutes, until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.
Optional: For a creamier soup, add 1 cup of the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Add the pureed soup back to the pot and mix together. Alternatively you can partially blend it with an immersion blender.
Add kale to the pot and stir until wilted. Divide out soup and serve.
Notes
*to keep the soup vegetarian use vegetable broth. Nutrition facts are with vegetable broth, if you use bone broth the recipe will have about 10g extra protein per serving.Nutrition information is for ¼ of the total soup.