Foodie Friday: Sweet Potato Bean Chili

If you don't know this about me yet, I am a huge foodie! My family started a pizza chain before I was born and then later on my parents opened a restaurant in Wichita Falls Texas. I spent a lot of time at the restaurant as well as in the kitchen cooking with my parents. I am always trying to create or adapt recipes to suit Josh and my taste. He is an onion hater, like an onion hater to the point that he will tell our server at a restaurant he is allergic to guarantee they will not put them in his food, kind of onion hater. This was a heartbreaking thing for me to learn as we first started dating because my base for 99% of my recipes started with onions and garlic. However, I learned to change my cooking methods to cater to his taste, while still allowing me get flavor in my food.

Cooking has always been something I have been confident doing. I am always proud of what I cook and I absolutely love to cook for others. Most other aspects of my life I am very timid when it comes to putting myself out there for judgement, but with cooking I do not feel that way.

I am going to try and share my favorite recipe that I made during the week on Friday's. I hope you enjoy & please share if you tried it and liked it or made any yummy changes.

My friends, family and I are always sharing recipes and I am constantly on Pinterest looking for great ideas. My sweet friend Carrie posted a picture of a Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili the other day that looked absolutely scrumptious. She sent me the recipe and I changed it up quite a bit because my pantry did not have most of what it called for, as well as I am a huge weenie when it comes to anything spicy.

Here is my recipe for a Sweet Potato Bean Chili

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 large onion (if you have a husband that will eat them I would add it!)

4 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons chili powder

4 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 dash of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chicken stock

1 beer (preferably a good yummy dark beer)

2 15 oz canned beans, rinsed (I used kidney and pinto but any would be delicious)

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1. Heat oil in pot over medium high heat. Add sweet potato and onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Add stock and beer and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the sweet potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

2. Add beans and tomatoes and increase heat to high and return to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes.

I served this with some cornbread that I squeezed about 1 1/2 tablespoons of maple syrup in the batter. Oh so yummy!! It was even better for lunch the next day. =)