This chili is as pleasing to the taste buds as it is to the eyes. Sweet potatoes, black beans, tomatoes, corn, lime juice and cilantro give each spoonful vibrant color, flavor, and nutrition. Serve it with some tortilla chips, sliced avocado, and shredded cheese, and you have a festive, healthy meal.
In a previous post, I mentioned a cookbook my husband somewhat recently bought, called Thrive Energy Cookbook, by Brendan Brazier. This chili recipe I am sharing below is based on a recipe in that book, though I did change and substitute a few things. The flavor of the this chili is absolutely rich and warm-tasting, with a subtle zing from the lime juice. My son, who normally won’t go near a sweet potato, even likes it, and my husband loves it. All the vegetables blend together beautifully.
It really is a good meal to have right now, in early March, when we are longing for color, but our gardens have not caught up to that longing yet. And though our snow has all melted and it has warmed up some, it is still cold and damp enough outside to appreciate a nice warm bowl of chili.
Speaking of gardens and color, I did see some crocus and daffodil shoots poking up just above the soil in our yard yesterday. Spring is coming, though here in Michigan I’m sure we have some cold days ahead of us before spring really settles in.
Until then, there is the fresh wind, the brighter sun, the earthy smell of the wet ground as it prepares itself for new growth. I saw some red-winged blackbirds the other day–one of the first signs that spring is coming. Soon we’ll be looking for fresh greens and asparagus!
For now, it is the perfect time to tromp around in my favorite boots through mud and wet undergrowth, cleaning up the yard or hiking down to the lake. My friend and I came across these beautiful milkweed pods on a walk the other day.
If you are longing for spring, but still shivering in the evenings, this chili has just the right amount of warmth and bright color to cheer you up and nourish your body for challenges ahead. I hope you all have a great weekend! There is a Fiesta Friday going on at Angie’s blog, co-hosted this week by Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook and Aspara @ Eating Well Diary. If you are looking for food inspiration or to find great blogs, it’s a great place! I’m looking forward to checking it out!
Colorful Vegetable Chili
Ingredients:
- 3 cups of sweet potatoes, cubed
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil
- 1 cup of sweet onion, finely chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons of chili powder (more if desired)
- 2 teaspoons of ground cumin (more if desired)
- 3 cups of tomatoes (fresh, or if canned, I like the San Marzano kind), quartered
- 2 cups of corn (fresh or frozen)
- 2 cans (14 oz cans) of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup of lime juice (about 2 to 3 limes’ worth)
- 1 cup of vegetable broth (I like to add a cup of water and a teaspoon of the Better than Bouillon vegetable base)
- 1 handful of cilantro leaves, stems removed
- shredded Cheddar cheese for topping (optional)
- sliced avocado for topping or garnish
- tortilla chips
Directions:
Wash and cube the sweet potatoes. Place them in a large pot. Cover the sweet potatoes with salted water, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until just barely tender (about 6 minutes, depending on the size of the cubes). Drain and rinse with cold water. (If desired, transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking, and drain again.) Set aside.
In the same large pot, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook until the onions are tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and cumin and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, black beans, lime juice, and vegetable broth. Simmer gently, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, at medium-low heat. Add a little more water if the mixture is too thick.
Spoon the chili into bowls and top with cilantro and shredded Cheddar cheese (if desired). Serve with sliced avocado and tortilla chips. Enjoy!
This recipe is adapted from the Thrive Energy Cookbook by Brendan Brazier
Since it is maple sugar season here, I thought I would share a recipe with maple syrup in it. One of my favorite cookie recipes of all time is one of the first ones I ever posted on this blog–the recipe for 
There is something so satisfying about using natural sweeteners like molasses (especially blackstrap molasses, which I like to use) and maple syrup. Maybe it’s because I know they contain important minerals found in the good earth (potassium, zinc, manganese, and iron, to name a few), so it feels like these coookies are quite healthy. Or at least nourishing. Perfect for a snack or to stick in the kids’ lunches. They have definitely been disappearing quickly around this house.
It’s March now, and outside my windows the snow is lightly falling. We had another snowstorm a couple of days ago, resulting in another snow day for the kids. Much of our half of the world is thinking about spring, yet we in Michigan are still blanketed in snow. For now, I will take the soft snow. It will be gone soon enough, and my upper body feels stronger from all of the shoveling!
I hope you all have a great weekend!
I’m going to take a plate of these cookies over to Angie’s 
Sometimes the best things happen as a result of necessity. I often freak out when life throws me a monkey wrench or a curve ball, but really, often, something good comes of those curve balls. Discovering this bread recipe was one of those good things.
While the kids and I were sitting close to our gas fireplace to stay warm,(thank goodness for that during power outages!), I found the recipe for this tasty bread in a cookbook my mom recently gave me called The Irish Kitchen: 150 Recipes for Everyday Cooking from the Emerald Isle. As soon as our electricity came back, I made this bread, and then made another loaf this morning. We had it with soup last night, and with breakfast this morning. I am really excited about this bread, because everyone in my family likes it, and it is so versatile. It tastes rustic and homemade, yet only takes around an hour to make, including baking time. There is just the tiniest hint of sweetness from the molasses.
And after raging for a few minutes about losing electricity for the second time this week due to the weather, I found myself enjoying the quiet time. My kids and I ate pretzels and pistachios for lunch, sat around the fireplace together, and listened to music on our hand-crank-powered radio. They went outside and built a fort in the snow, and when they came in, all their wet things dried quickly by the fireplace. Our power came back within a few hours. I didn’t get a lot done that day, but had quality time with my kids and made this awesome bread.
I am sharing this recipe with the group of amazing bloggers at Angie’s 
