Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

This recipe comes from Good Life Eats. Very delicious and filling (my husband even said so himself).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 poblano pepper, diced (deseed if you like)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/4 teaspoons cumin
• 1 tablespoons chili powder
• 15 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 8 ounces vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon Morton Season All Seasoned Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 2/3 cup diced sweet potato
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 37.5 ounces canned black beans, drained but not rinsed
• 1/2 cup fire roasted salsa
• 2 bay leaves
• 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
• toppings for serving: Monterrey jack cheese or feta and cilantro

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the diced onion and saute for 5 minutes, until tender and golden. Add the garlic and poblano pepper and saute another minute, until fragrant. Add the cumin and chili powder and saute another 2 minutes.

Lower heat to medium-low and stir in the crushed tomatoes and broth (reserve 1/4 cup of broth), scraping to remove any browned bits in the pan. Add the remaining ingredients except the cornstarch and toppings.

In a small bowl whisk together the reserved 1/4 cup of broth and the cornstarch until smooth. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the chili pot. Stir until well mixed. Bring chili to a boil for 2 minutes and then lower heat to low. Simmer over low heat uncovered for one hour. Then, simmer covered with a lid for 30 minutes.

Serve topped with your choice of toppings.

Notes about this recipe:

1. I served it up with cornbread muffins (using 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white flour).
2. I didn't used crushed tomatoes, I used chili ready diced tomatoes.
3. I just used 1 whole sweet potato (which was a little more than 2/3 c.), and I only used about 28 oz of black beans (about 1 1/2 cups).
4. I cut the chili powder in half, and it was still a tad spicy so next time I might only use 1/2 of the poblano pepper or 1/2 the salsa (I had used a medium spice salsa).