Hearty Vegetarian Sweet Potato Chili and Healthy Living

11.3K

Share with your friends?

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SimplyHealthy #CollectiveBias

Everyone loves to indulge during the holiday season. But, it’s also important to maintain healthy eating. Sam’s Club has some great ideas to make your favorite holiday dishes healthier this season.  One recipe I had to try was their Sweet Potato Chili, and it was fantastic!

After checking out the recipe, I headed to Sam’s Club and purchased sweet potatoes.  I could not wait to get home and whip this up.  I knew my husband was going to love it.  He always enjoys it when I make vegetarian dishes.

This is one of those deliciously hearty meals that is perfect for the cold weather. Nate told me that it actually tasted like it had meat in it to him.  The combination of the sweet potatoes and the spices gave it a nouveau kind of feel, but it tasted like comfort food, too.

I learned quite a bit about the sweet potato from this article from Sam’s Club in their Healthy Living Made Simple magazine. Did you know the sweet potato originally came from the Americas? It was cultivated by the Incas and brought back to Europe from The New World. Did you know sweet potatoes and yams are not the same thing?  Yams are from Africa and Asia. I had no idea!

You can download the Healthy Living Made Simple app to check out more of their magazine from iTunes HERE. It’s available for the iPhone and iPad.

Print

One of the things I love about this chili recipe, besides that it’s so tasty, is that it’s ready in less than 30 minutes.  I began by chopping up an onion and cubing 2 sweet potatoes.  The recipe only calls for 1 1/2 sweet potatoes, but I wanted to add a little extra, so I included both.

Next, saute the onions in a little bit of olive oil until they start to turn brown.  This step will take a few minutes.

At this point, throw in the chili powder.  Make sure you have the sweet potato cubes and the veggie broth ready to add in the next step.

Once you’ve added the broth and sweet potatoes, let it reach a boil and then turn the fire down to medium low to let it simmer for 10-12 minutes.  I let mine go for 12 minutes because I wanted the sweet potatoes good and tender.

Once the sweet potatoes are tender (check with a fork). Drain the corn as well as both the black beans and pinto beans before adding to the pot.  Then, add the stewed tomatoes with the juices.

The recipe called for Mexican stewed tomatoes, but I could not find them, so I just added regular stewed tomatoes. Another option might be using Italian stewed tomatoes.

I had just made a fresh pot of pinto beans earlier in the day, so instead of using canned beans, I added 1 1/2 cups of fresh pintos.

I let it simmer for another 5 minutes and then I added in the Italian seasoning and the orange zest.  And, I was out of regular oranges, so I zested a mandarin orange.  Then, I let it all simmer for another 5 minutes until the chili had thickened up nicely.

I made a batch of sweet cornbread muffins to go along with our chili.  My family loves to break up cornbread into stews and chili.

This is a great hearty meal, and I love that it’s vegetarian.  It’s budget friendly and very filling. You’ll love the complex flavors to this meal.  Let me know if you try it!

How do you try to eat healthy during the holiday season?

Share with your friends?