Sweet Potato Chili

Part of the excitement of trying out new recipes is that you never know what you're gonna get.  It could end up being a delicious crowd pleaser, or it could be a disaster that wasted too much of your time and money! This one turned out fantastic! Seriously, put this in your recipe box and plan on making it asap!

I was super intrigued by this recipe as soon as I saw it in my new Simple and Delicious cooking magazine. Cody and I both love sweet potatoes and I knew I had some sitting out on the counter that needed to be used up, so I decided to try it out last night.

Here are the ingredients you need:

2 cups cubed, peeled sweet potato
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups vegetable broth
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
4 1/2 tsp brown sugar
3 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

In an ovenproof Dutch oven, saute sweet potato and bell pepper in oil until crisp tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add the tomatoes, broth, black beans, brown sugar, chili powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Adjustments I made:
The recipe actually called for 1 medium sweet red pepper. At first thought it was a red bell pepper for color, but after reading it again I realized it was probably a pepper to add spice. We really love bell pepper and didn't miss the additional spice at all. Instead of measuring out 2 cups of sweet potatoes, I used 2 medium and 1 small potato. It was probably more than it called for but was still good! Last thing, even though it called for 2 cups of vegetable broth, the can was only 14.5 oz and I didn't want to buy two. The missing 1.5 oz didn't make any difference :)

The recipe also calls for 1 package (6 1/2 oz) of a corn bread mix and 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. While the chili is simmering, prepare the corn bread batter according to package directions and stir in cheese. Drop by tablespoonfuls over chili. Cover and bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick near the center comes out clean.

Since we're trying to eat semi healthy around here, I omitted that step and just served bread on the side. From what I can figure out, the whole recipe had less than 750 calories, and 120 of that was from the olive oil, which I don't think added anything to the recipe. So for about 100 calories, you can have a cup of this chili!

Cody and I both LOVED LOVED LOVED this recipe! In case you didn't figure it out yet, it is a vegetarian recipe. I would love to do a vegetarian recipe once a week to help cut down on the grocery budget and this is definitely one that will become a staple in our house! We had it again for lunch today and Cody kept saying, "I just can't believe how good it was!" While it was hearty and filling, it wasn't too overly heavy and didn't feel like a winter dish. Mentally I feel like chili has to be a cold weather comfort food, yet this will be a year round dish for us!

Here are some pictures from the recipe:

The ingredients:



Sauteing:



Mix in the garlic:



Add in the other ingredients:









I've never felt like I could justify the costs of a dutch over {probably because I have always wanted to purchase the super expensive LeCreuset!} However, after making this recipe and realizing that I didn't have a good pan that wasn't about to overflow... I have decided I definitely need a Dutch Oven! Now I just need to find an extra $300 in our budget...

Simmer and enjoy!