New World Chili

I guess I could have easily called this Conquistador Chili, since almost all of the ingredients came from South America and ended up as staples in European cooking. But whatever you call it, it's good. Anything that has both garlic AND chocolate on the ingredients list can't be all bad.  Throw in the smell of onions and peppers wafting from a pan, and you know it's gonna be good.

2 tablespoons oil, I use olive oil as my default oil, but you can use any vegetable oil you like
1 onion, diced
1 large or two small bell peppers (any color) diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large-ish sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
salt
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup water

Heat the oil in a dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed, lidded pan over medium heat.  Add the onions and peppers and cook until just softened.  Up the heat to medium-high and throw in the sweet potatoes and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for about another 5 minutes, just until the onions start to get a little golden and the sweet potatoes start to cook around the corners. Be careful not to cook it too high--you don't want to burn your precious garlic.

Now sprinkle the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, cocoa powder and a good sprinkling of coarse salt over the veggie mixture and stir for a couple of minutes--just long enough to coat everything evenly and get a toasty flavor. 

Add the can of tomatoes and the beans. Poke the tomatoes with your spoon just to release all the juice and give it a little stir.  Add the water.  Bring to a simmer, put the lid on, and pop it into a 300 degree oven for 3 hours or so.  The sweet potatoes will absorb a lot of liquid, so check it about half way through. Depending on the size of your sweet potatoes, you may have to add another 1/2 cup of water or so.

When it's done, taste for seasoning. Throw a little salt in as needed.

Like all recipes, feel free to doctor this up or change it as needed. Like it spicier? Add a little cayenne. Like it richer? Substitute black coffee for up to half the water. Like it tomato-y-er? (Yeah, I know. Not a word.) Add another can of tomato.  Want to stretch it to feed more people? Add some frozen corn for the last 15 or 20 minutes. Corn definitely qualifies as New World.

And if you can't hang around for 3 hours, please feel free to skip the whole oil-and-cooking-vegetable thing and throw all your ingredients into the crockpot from the very beginning and leave it to simmer on low for 7 or 8 hours.

Now serve it with garnished with chive or scallions, a dollop of sour cream (or Greek yogurt), and some tortilla chips. Or go against the grain and toss a loaf of crusty bread on the table.

And if your kids won't eat it, save a sliced raw red bell pepper for their side dish, make each child a quesadilla (we call them Mexican grilled cheese) and have them try just a little on their plate.

Yum.