Beef Chili with Sweet Potatoes

This is my mom's sweet potato chili recipe - it's super easy. She usually makes it with ground turkey, but I most often use beef. I had it this time with cornbread because I still had some kefir from making the skillet cornbread for my cornbread stuffing at Thanksgiving. So why not make it again to enjoy on its own?! (Also leftover labneh which I ate like sour cream on top!)

I'll be out of town for most of the week, and am prepping some meals that I can take with me to reheat. Chili, stew, and salad stuff. Seems easy.

Beef Chili with Sweet Potatoes
2 T butter
1 pound ground beef
1 large or 2 small onions, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno
1 T chili powder
2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2 sweet potatoes (or one large one), diced
1 can kidney beans (or whatever beans)
3 14oz cans of tomatoes (or equivalent frozen garden tomatoes)
1 c frozen sweet corn (or more)

1) Saute onions and celery in butter until soft. Add garlic and jalapeno, and saute another few minutes.
2) Add meat and spices. Cook until meat is cooked through, breaking apart with your spoon.
3) Add tomatoes, kidney beans and sweet potatoes. Cover and cook until sweet potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.
4) Add corn. Taste for salt, and probably add a little more. Serve!

chili! part two.

Allison's last post made me crave Chili and, one day, after I go to the store and get the ingredients for it, I'm really looking forward to trying it.

...but since I didn't want to leave the house, I improvised this recipe from what I had on hand. Really easy and delicious.

chili:

any type of beans (i used a mixture of pinto, kidney, black eyed peas, and adzuki beans)

roasted tomatoes (from the garden last year, roasted and then frozen)

vegetable stock

pureed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

onion

salt+pepper to taste

i used dried beans, cook until tender then drain. add to sauteed onions and add rest of ingredients. simmer. even better the next day.

cornbread:

2 Tbsp butter

1 1/4 cup yogurt (or buttermilk)

1-1/2 cups medium-grind cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

1 egg

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Use a square 8x8" baking pan and heat the butter directly in the pan until hot for about 2 minutes and then turn off the heat.

Mix the egg into the yogurt. In a separate bowl, place all the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined, if the mixture seems too dry, add in a few tablespoons of milk. Pour directly into the pan with the butter in the bottom. Smooth out the batter if necessary and place into the oven.

Bake for about 30 minutes and the top is lightly browned, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the sides of the bread shrink back from the skillet. Serve hot or warm.