Sweet potatoes are 75¢/lb right now. Just sayin.

  For those of you who know me well, you might be aware of my two main food obsessions:  Sweet potatoes and pesto.  I could dedicate an entire blog to recipes I have invented for these two foods.  

  Today, however, I will stick with the sweet potato.  They are the super food.  They are nutritious, delicious and cheap (no joke, they are 75¢/lb in the store right now).  Hash, pasta, fries, the possibilities are endless.

  I looked at my pantry (aka the shelf above my counter... hey, a girl can dream) today and saw black beans.  Thus began my usual recipe creation process.  Type in random foodstuffs one has in one's pantry into google.  See if any recipes pop up.  Read a few recipes for inspiration.  Combine new ideas with established food knowledge.  Start the experiment.

  Sweet potato chili?  How did I never come up with that??  So I did a little research into how others made theirs, wrote down a few tips, and then went to cooking.

I have been making chili for years and years, first with my mom, and then on my own as an easy one-pot meal.  The above have become my staple chili ingredients, then I can expand from there.  That's 2 cans of Rotel with green chilies, one can of black beans, and one small can of corn.

And these are my staple chili spices.  Adobo is the wonder seasoning.

I started by peeling and dicing 2 large sweet potatoes and sauteing them in olive oil until slightly browned on the outside.  Then, add one heaping tsp of cumin, one heaping tsp of chili power, a Tbsp of adobo, and a few dashes of cayenne pepper to the potatoes.  Let the spices warm up in the pan with the potatoes for a minute or two while you get your canned ingredients open.

Open the black beans and corn into a colander and rinse with water.  The Rotel will add enough liquid and the potatoes will add enough starch, so rinsing the beans and corn and straining them is important.  Add the beans, corn, and 2 cans of Rotel to the pot.  If you like a thick chili, add a teensy bit of cornstarch to the pot, if you like a soupier version, leave it out.  Bring it all to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.  This is going to make a LOT of chili, but it freezes well, not to worry.

And boom!  There you go!  Chili is one of the most simple and satisfying things you can make.  I like to eat my chili with some sharp cheddar grated over the top and the white girl in me likes to eat it with saltines.  I imagine cornbread or tortilla chips would go just as well with this chili, haha. 

Sweet potato chili.  It's good.  Try it.  I have plenty more sweet potato recipes to give y'all, but I will attempt to spread them out. a bit  In the meantime, let me know how this one works out for you.