sweet potato-black bean chili
Chili is a popular cold-weather food. This meatless recipe is so rich and filling that I did not even miss the meat. You can make this vegan by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. This is a versatile recipe too. Don’t be daunted by the ingredient list; you can omit some of this and achieve more-or-less the same taste and satiety. I’m a big fan of using what you have so if your spice cabinet contains different things, give them a try. You can use traditional chili spices such as chili powder, paprika, onion powder and garlic and be just fine. I wanted mine to have a bit of a kick so this recipe provides substantial heat from the use of the smoked chaabani olive oil and a hefty portion of smoked chipotle chili powder.
Following the recipe, I’ve included some ways to alter so that your flavor profile is a little milder.
Ingredients:
2 small-medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1 in. cubes
2 medium parsnips (or carrots), sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 14-oz. can black beans, rinsed
8-ish leaves Swiss chard, separated from stems and chopped
1/2 Tbs flavored or plain olive oil, I used smoked chaabani flavored for heat
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked chipotle chili powder or smoked paprika or sweet paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried dill
1 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbs bourbon (optional)
1 Tbs maple syrup (more for sweeter flavor)
3 c. chicken broth or 1.5 cups broth + 1.5 cups water
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley leaves
2 Tbs toasted pine nuts
Saute onion in olive oil for 2-3 minutes on medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute 2 min more before adding sweet potatoes and parsnips. Decrease heat slightly and stir; cook 5-8 minutes; allow the oil and juices to coat the firm vegetables and cook to soften.
Add the spices: chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, salt and dill. Stir to coat veggies and cook 2-3 minutes. Before veggies burn, add the bourbon; stir to coat. This will add just enough liquid to the veggies so they won’t burn. Add the maple syrup and stir to coat. Add the broth. Stir and simmer for 15-ish minutes until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.
Turn off the heat. Using an immersion blender, partially blend soup so that is thick but still chunky. This should emulate the texture of chili. It is certainly a personal choice as to how much to blend, depending on how smooth you like your soup.
Add the black beans and Swiss chard. Simmer 5 min so that chard wilts.
Ladle into bowls and top with toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley.
Modifications:
More or alternate greens can be added. I honestly intended to use mustard greens, but they looked so poorly at the market, that I decided on the Swiss chard instead. Other options are collard greens or spinach.
You can increase or decrease the heat in this recipe by altering the spice mix. Cinnamon goes well with sweet potatoes; that’s why I used it. To make this sweeter, use less chili powder or sub nutmeg, allspice or cloves and add a tablespoon of coconut sugar.
To make this really rich, add a can of coconut milk.
