When it’s cool and damp outside, nothing warms you up better than a cup of hot chili. My normal go-to chili recipe is for Turkey Chili, but I was in the mood for something new. I thought this would be a perfect time to pull out my Cuisinart Cook Central. It’s a slow cooker that also has settings for roasting, brown & sautéing and steaming. No need for using the stove to prep your ingredients, you do it all in the removable 7-quart nonstick cast aluminum cooking pot. Its so easy to use and only one pot to clean!
I thought I would make a recipe out of things I had on hand so I decided upon a Vegetarian Sweet Potato Chili. I made it with sweet potatoes from my Talley Farms CSA box along with some white northern beans, kidney beans, red bell pepper, red onion and garlic. I also decided to add some corn that I had previously frozen from the end of the season crop from Talley Farms. (I used the microwave cooking process to slightly undercook the ears of corn, then I cut the kernels off and mix them with some melted butter. I then freeze portions in zip top freezer bags and it keeps them just as crisp and fresh as the day I froze them!)
Even more important than for soups, toppings are a must for chili. You can use whatever your favorites are. I used fresh sliced scallions and radishes, a dollop of sour cream and some tortilla chips. If you aren’t keeping strict vegetarian, you can also add cheese as one of the toppings.
Vegetarian Sweet Potato Chili
Serve 6
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- dash cayenne red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 – 14.5 oz cans organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes, with their juice
- 1 15.5 oz can organic great northern beans
- 1 15.5 oz can organic kidney beans
- 1 cup fresh corn kernels (or frozen)
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1/2″ pieces
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- sour cream, sliced scallions, sliced radishes and tortilla chips for serving
Directions
- If you have a slow cooker with a sauté setting, then set it to sauté and add the olive oil. Saute the onion, pepper and sweet potatoes until the onion begins to become translucent, about 5 minutes. (Alternately you can sauté it on in a pan on the stove and transfer the mixture to the slow cooker or disregard that step altogether and just add the ingredients to your slow cooker raw.) Turn the slow cooker to “slow cook.” (Low for 7-8 hours of cooking, High for 4-5 hours) Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, cocoa, cinnamon, red pepper, salt and pepper and stir to mix. Add the tomatoes (and their liquid), beans and broth.
- Cover and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chili has thickened. About 30 minutes before the chili is done, add the corn so it can heat through. Serve the chili with the sour cream, scallions, radishes and tortilla chips.
- In a 4 to 6 quart Dutch oven or stockpot, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion, pepper and sweet potatoes on medium-high heat. Once the onions start turning translucent, turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir to mix. Add the tomatoes (and their liquid), beans and broth, and stir. Cover and cook for 45 minutes up to two hours, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chili has thickened. About 15 minutes before the chili is done, add the corn so it can heat through.
- Serve the chili with the sour cream, scallions, radishes and tortilla chips.
(click here) for printable recipe