Chili Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.

     I just felt good after eating this vegetarian meal. It was filling and light. This was a real basic chili that complimented the sweetness of the sweet potato. I found this simple recipe on a wonderful website called The Sprouted Kitchen. There are so many great recipes on that blog. You can link to them on my sidebar. I had someone email me what vegetarian cookbook I would recommend and being that I can't find that email to respond (seems to be my theme right now), I will tell you all....I don't really buy cookbooks anymore. Why, When you can google everything under the sun? I simply type in whatever I am interested in cooking or a general "vegetarian recipe" search and millions pop up. I look for sites that have reviews so I can see what others are saying about the recipe. If they get good reviews, I will try it out. All Recipes is a great site. They get lots of feedback. Read the reviews because other cooks tell what they did to change the recipe.  I have a binder with plastic sheets and I print them, put them in the sheets and they are all in catergories. It is the best cookbook I have! I don't keep them if they aren't winners. 

There you go.

     Try out this recipe. You can change it up anyway you want but I liked that it was really basic. Sometimes I just like to taste simple ingredients not overpowered by spice.

 Chili Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

4 medium sweet potatoes

1/2 lb dried pinto beans or beans of choice, soaked overnight

2 tsp. Olive oil

1 yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T. chili powder

1 t. cumin

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 t. salt, or more as desired

28  oz, crushed or diced tomatoes

Cilantro, onion, avocado, sour cream, etc. as desired

I doubled this but this recipe above serves about 4.

Preheat oven to 400. Pierce sweet potato and bake for about 40-45 minutes or until tender.Be careful to not overcook! I did. Mine were smaller and were done in 30 minutes.

Cook soaked beans according to directions. Soaked beans will usually cook in under an hour or about 20 in a pressure cooker. You can also used canned beans. 

Slice onion thinly. Over medium heat, warm the olive oil and add the onions and garlic until softened. Add the spices and tomatoes. If the tomatoes are diced or whole, smash them up or blend them. Bring to a simmer and reduce for about 20 minutes. When the beans are done, drain and add to the tomato mixture. Taste for salt and spices to see if you need more flavor. Adjust accordingly. Let simmer another 10-20 minutes for beans to soak in flavor.

Split sweet potato down the middle and fill with chili. Top with optional ingredients. 

***To make things go quicker in my house, I cook beans in bulk and freeze in 2 cup increments. This is a huge time saver since I don't want canned beans. If you are as lucky as I am, you got your fresh dried pinto beans from The Backyard Farmer! Totally spoiled!