Chipotle Black Bean & Sweet Potato Vegetarian Stew

I put this recipe together the other night while trying to figure out something to do with the dozens of sweet potatoes we keep getting from our vegetable CSA. I think my whole family is a little burned out on chili, so I decided to skip the meat and serve this one-pot meal over rice. 

You could easily add chicken, ground beef, or andouille to this one to change up the flavor. If you do, just brown it, cut it up, and mix it in when you add the chicken stock.

Chipotle Black Bean & Sweet Potato Vegetarian Stew

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large sweet potatoes, cubed
3 medium carrots, chopped
¼ - ½ red onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 chipotle in adobo, finely chopped (add a tbsp of the adobo sauce for smokier flavor)
1 tsp chili powder
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried parsley
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup vegetable stock (or any stock for non-vegetarian)
sour cream (omit for vegan) & prepared rice for serving 

Instructions:
In Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Once oil is heated, add cubed sweet potatoes, chopped carrots, and red onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8-10 minutes, or until vegetables are slightly softened. Add minced garlic, and continue cooking, stirring continuously, for 30 seconds – 1 minute. Add rest of ingredients through salt & pepper, stirring to combine. Add stock, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Continue simmering for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are completely softened and liquid has reduced. Serve over prepared rice, and top with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt. 

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili- kid friendly!

It is Chili season in North Carolina! Cooler temps mean it's time to break out the Crock Pot and let it do all the work for me. I love chili this time of year!

My 3 year old has a bean/pea allergy so we avoid all legumes and lentils. I came across a recipe for sweet potato chili last year, and tried it, but omitted the beans the recipe called for. I've made it several times since then, tweaking the recipe a little each time. I finally got the perfect chili that we will all eat. 

Try it, you will not be disappointed! The sweet potato is the perfect bean replacement, but still gives you a similar texture. I actually double this recipe in my large Crock Pot so I have extra for the freezer.  --C

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground (beef, venison, turkey, chicken)

2-3 sweet potato, peeled and diced into cubes

1- 15oz can of organic diced tomatoes

1- 8oz can organic tomato sauce

1 Homemade Chili seasoning recipe (below)

Chili Seasoning*:

1 TBSP Chili Powder

1.5  TBSP minced onion

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp ground pepper

Instructions:

Line your slow cooker with a liner to reduce clean up, if desired. (Totally worth the money to get these!)

Put meat in bottom of cooker (I put it in frozen, no need to thaw ahead of time!)

Top meat with seasoning, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and diced sweet potatoes. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

About an hour before eating, take a spoon and mix everything well, making sure to crumble the meat.

**I don’t add cayenne pepper to my chili seasoning, because my hubby and kids don’t like spicy foods. If you do want it spicy, add ¼ tsp cayenne, or more to taste.  I usually just sprinkle a little on the top of mine and then mix it up!

Sweet Potato & Ground Bison Sloppy Joes Recipe

Sloppy Joes are such an easy, quick, and kid-friendly weeknight dinner. While I always have these great aspirations to try something new with ground meat, 9 out of 10 times I come back to Sloppy Joes. ... and why wouldn't I? I know that they are nearly impossible to screw up even when left unattended for 15 minutes while I change a diaper or break up a fight, and  I know my kids will actually eat them, which is most often not the case for dinner at our house these days. 

I like to change them up by adding different root veggies or beans to the mixture. Not only does it add a little fiber and another veg to their plates, it also stretches the meat a little further. 

We currently have a whole bunch of sweet potatoes from our CSA farm share (read about what a CSA is here), so I took some inspiration from a Martha Stewart recipe and 100 Days of Real Food recipe to come up with this fantastic new Sloppy Joe recipe. This is my first time making "Real Food" rules approved Sloppy Joes and I will definitely be using this recipe from now on. 

Note: We like our Sloppy Joes to have a smoky flavor with a hint of heat; if you prefer a sweeter mix, you'll want to cut the amount of chili powder and cumin used. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet potato, chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped (OR ½ small onion & 1 clove garlic, finely chopped)
1 pound ground bison (or any ground meat)
1 14.5 oz. can tomato sauce (no sugar added)
1 tablespoon honey
1½ teaspoons chili powder
1½ teaspoons cumin
Dash of cinnamon
salt & pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add sweet potato, cook for about 3 minutes. Add shallot, and continue cooking until both sweet potato and shallot soften, 2-3 minutes.

Add ground meat to skillet and brown until no pink visible, breaking up meat with wooden spoon while it cooks. Season with salt & pepper.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together tomato sauce, honey, chili powder, cumin, and cinnamon. 

Add sauce to browned meat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer for   5-10 minutes until most liquid has evaporated and mixture has thickened. 

Serve Sloppy Joes on whole wheat buns. 

*Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food Turkey Sloppy Joes & Martha Stewart's Turkey Sloppy Joes.*