Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili with Sweet Potatoes
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil or skip this if you don’t want to pre-saute vegetables
- 1 red onion chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 1 sweet red bell pepper chopped
- 1 jalapeno diced (remove seeds to make it less hot or use half or omit altogether)
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika optional
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1-2 teaspoons sea salt depending on salt in tomatoes
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 28- ounce container chopped or diced tomatoes with the juice I prefer to use Pomi from a box or tomatoes in glass jars to avoid the inevitable BPA in canned tomatoes.
- 1 ½ cups cooked black beans or 1 15-ounce can drained and rinsed (click here to learn how to cook beans from scratch, otherwise Eden Organics doesn't use BPA in their cans)
- 1 ½ cups cooked kidney beans or 1 15-ounce can drained and rinsed
- 2 medium sweet potatoes about 1 pound total, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 cup water use 2 cups water if cooking this on the stove
Instructions
- Omit this step if you cannot bear to pre-cook anything when using a slow cooker. I like to sauté my vegetables because I think it adds more flavor, but feel free to dump everything (omit the oil) into the slow cooker and press “start.” Otherwise, heat oil in a large skillet (if not using a slow cooker, sauté in a large pot) over medium heat. Add onion, peppers and garlic and sauté until onions are tender and translucent, about 6 minutes.
- Add spices, salt and pepper and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. If your tomatoes are unsalted, use 2 teaspoons salt.
- Add tomatoes and their liquid and cook for another minute or two.
- Pour the onion and pepper mixture into a 4-6 quart slow cooker. Stir in beans, sweet potato and 1 cup water. (If cooking on the stove, add remaining ingredients to the pot plus 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook until sweet potatoes are tender and everything is nice and thick, about 1 hour.)
- Cover and cook until sweet potatoes are tender and the chili has thickened, on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
- Taste for salt and pepper. Serve with desired toppings such as tortilla chips, diced avocado, chopped cilantro, and sour cream.
Notes
I have also served this with cooked quinoa and millet, which was delicious. Also, I think adding some chopped fresh leafy greens about 10 minutes before serving would be very nice, too. Swiss chard, spinach and kale would all work well.