• Home
  • Recipes
    • Vegan
    • Raw
    • Salad
    • Soup
    • Treats
    • Smoothies & Juices
      • My Awesome Smoothie Book
      • Favourite Products
      • Smoothie & Juice Recipes
      • Juicing Articles
  • Happiness
  • Adventures
  • Work with Me
smarterfitter

Beans and Legumes

Abby’s Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli

November 11, 2014 · By Monica Shaw

Sweet potato and black bean chili

This week’s Riverford vegbox contained two rare treasures: sweet potatoes and jalapeños, two foods that form the basis for one of my all time favorite veggie chili recipes: sweet potato and black bean chilli.

This recipe is a total blast from the past. My friend Abby made it for her boyfriend (now husband) and I on a cold snowy winter’s evening in Milwaukee several years ago. We’d spent the day cross country skiing in the bitter cold. It was amazing, but very hard work (it was my first time skiing ever!), and coming home to a big pot of piping hot chilli (and a few bottles of VERY cold beers) was hugely rewarding.

P1000568.jpg

I haven’t changed the recipe much from the original – Abby herself said she likes to “play around with the spices”, so I did that, too, adding a bit of cinnamon and Mexican oregano (Abby likes to add Herbs de Provence).

Such is the awesomeness of veggie chili. It’s hugely adaptable and it’s hard to go wrong. But one thing you do need is good ingredients, and on this particular occasion I felt very grateful for having beautiful organic sweet potatoes to work with. Their flavor really came through against the cocoa and cinnamon, making for some serious comfort food that feels very much needed as the weather turns truly autumnal.

Sweet potato and black bean chili

I like to serve this chili with loads of garnishes: fresh cilantro, lime, raw onion, my homemade pickled jalapeños and lots of avocado. You could also add cheese or sour cream if you’d like, or a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds for a bit of crunch. And to really make it special, serve with a big wedge of cornbread and a bottle of good beer (I recommend Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale) on the side.

Beer Tasting

Abby’s Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
  • 1 medium red onion, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 1 green pepper, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 to 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
  • Zest and juice of 1 lime
  • 2 tins diced tomatoes
  • 3 tins black beans, drained
  • 1 jalapeno chili pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Mexican oregano
  • 1 tsp brown sugar (or more to taste)
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves, washed and dried

Method

  1. Warm the oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the onion, red pepper, green pepper, carrots, garlic, and salt. Saute until soft, about 4 minutes.
  2. Add the sweet potato and lime zest, and cook 10 to 15 minutes more, continuing to stir occasionally.
  3. Add the jalapeno, cumin, chill powder, cinnamon, cocoa and oregano, stir and cook for a minute or two.
  4. Add the tomatoes, black beans, lime juice and sugar. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20-40 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are very soft.

Sweet potato and black bean chili

This chilli is so memorable that I’ve written about it before.

Also memorable, the moustache on the ski rental dude at Wheel and Sprocket:

P1000577.jpg

And my friend Matt on skis.

Matt on skis

Now go make some chilli!

Sweet potato and black bean chili

Also seen on Great British Chefs.

About Monica Shaw

Veg lover, dog owner, hill walker, wild camper, avocado addict, nerd. I write about how to be awesome through a "smarter fitter" approach to eating, drinking, living and working.
Learn More →

Share

Share
Tweet
Email
Pin
Comment
Previous
Next

Comments Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




  1. Dottie says

    November 11, 2014 at 10:50 pm

    Oh my goodness… a savory dish with cocoa! And cinnamon! My taste buds perk at this brilliant combo in chili! Both get around town as a duo in Mole Sauce, and show off a very public romance at sweet tables across the globe, but are seldom seen together in a savory fashion.

    Reply
  2. Iris says

    December 1, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    Hi Monika,

    Iris here (Rory’s ex-flatmate ;-). Really love your blog and your recipes. This one will be tried out later this week, am totally addicted to sweet potato. Will also pickle some chilies 😉

    Thank you,
    Iris x

    Reply
    • Monica says

      December 1, 2014 at 7:53 pm

      If you make the chilli, then you HAVE to make the pickles too! The two are so much better together. 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Black and blue | Dancing with Sunflowers says:
    November 27, 2014 at 7:45 am

    […] soaking the beans I used this recipe to make a delicious black bean chilli.  Since the recipe calls for cans of black beans and the whole point was that I needed to use the […]

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Search





Instagram

Instagram did not return a 200.

Follow Me!

About

  • About
  • Work with Monica
  • Contact
  • Smarter Fitter Smoothies

Follow Me

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Search

Subscribe

Buy my book

Smoothie eBook

Copyright 2023 smarterfitter