Chili loaded sweet potato
stick to your bones, wintery type stuff!
This was a new one for us recently and it’s sure to become one of our most popular menu items. The vegetarian dishes are funny because they’re often the hardest ones to come up with of when writing the menu. We tend to discuss them at the very end, toying between what would round out the menu and also feel like a full satisfying meal. They can be tricky because we only offer 2 fully vegetarian entrees every week (4 entrees with meat, 2 without, along with 1 soup, 2 sides, a focaccia, and now cookies, breakfast burritos, and a juice—the menu is growing!). That being said, although we have vegetarian offerings, I don’t think that many—if any—of our customers are fully vegetarian. I think that the people ordering the vegetarian entrees are doing so simply because they sound good. For me, they tend to be the hardest to come up with, but they often end up being my favorite items on the menu.
That was the case with this recent addition. Sweet potatoes are a staple of our winter produce availability list and I wanted to take advantage of that. They’re hearty, nutritious, and add some much needed color to the plate. Plus, the sweetness pairs nicely with lots of savory winter dishes. I had the idea to do a loaded baked sweet potato, roasted to custardy perfection and topped with a generous scoop of black bean chili and of course a hefty sprinkle of cheese. Our orders for the vegetarian entrees are almost always lower than our entrees that include meat, but this one was an exception to the rule.
I think that’s partly thanks to the local sweet potatoes we’re getting lately. But, the chili is also delicious. Whenever we’re making chili, chicken tortilla soup, or enchilada sauce, we start with the same base. To make it, we cook down onions and garlic until they’re completely translucent and beginning to caramelize. We then add in dried chilis and spices to toast along with the onions. This enhances all of the existing flavors and adds a certain nuttiness to the party. Then we toast tomato paste and deglaze with house-made chicken or veggie stock. A little bit of brown sugar and lime juice get added to the mix and the whole thing gets blended into a base to be added to chili or thinned out with more stock for enchilada sauce.
I highly suggest you make extra base to freeze so that you can easily whip up a chili all winter long.
*Note: This recipe is customizable. It’s winter so I didn’t add bell peppers or jalapeños, but you totally could. In the summer I likely would, but I don’t think it needs it. You could also add ground beef or turkey for this! If you choose to do so, don’t adjust anything, simply brown the ground meat first and then add the onions, garlic, chili paste, etc.
Everything you’ll need:
A blender or immersion blender for blending the chili paste (I’m partial to the immersion blender because it can do all the work of a blender without exploding when you’re working with hot liquids.)
A large pot or Dutch oven for doing everything from making the chili base to the actual chili. This one is on sale right now.
A flat wooden spoon. This recipe requires you to really toast the tomato paste so you want something that allows you to scrape the bottom of the pan really well. I like this one.
A sheet tray with edges to roast the sweet potatoes in
Dried chilis. This is the perfect trio.
This is a dish that calls for a shallow bowl. These ones are my favorite.
Chili-loaded sweet potato
Ingredients:
