Chipotle Sweet Potato Chili with Cashew Lime “Crema”

If you love chili, this recipe will convince you that meat has little to do with it. The thick, spicy, and tomatoey sauce with all kinds of textures coming together in one bowl is what seals the deal. Sweet potato chili is quite common among vegan cooking. But for my vegan chili recipe, mashed sweet potatoes play a pivotal role as a thickener while chipotle peppers in adobo sauce deliver a dose of smokey heat. It’s a spicy/sweet combination made in heaven; and if you’ve never cooked with an avocado leaf, now is the time to start. 

Because chipotle peppers are actually jalapeño peppers that have been dried and smoked, their aroma of a rustic wooden barbecue gets all up in your nasal cavity as soon as you open the can. Why would you NOT want that flavor transferred to your vegan chili? Store bought chipotles in a can are drenched in adobo sauce – a sauce consisting of vinegar, tomato puree, salt, and sometimes a few “spices”. Adobo sauce serves as a great starter ingredient to sauté with. Tomatoes (either canned or fresh) are a no-brainer ingredient for any chili. However, also having some cubed sweet potatoes in the mix with different types of onions, peppers and beans are really the basics of what you need.   

Avocado leaf and Mexican oregano are two herbs that will make your vegan chili taste one more step closer to some authentic Mexican food you might have tasted in a restaurant. By habit, I usually use bay leaves for making soups, but this time I was looking for something new. I had seen all sorts of Mexican herbs in the bodegas for many years and now was the time to actually put my curiosity into action. The anise-like sweetness of avocado leaf makes this recipe spicy-but-sweet in a different way. Mexican oregano has more of a bold flavor than other types, so it can hold it’s own when paired with spicy elements such as Chipotle, Serrano and Poblano peppers.

Why Vegan chili?

When I told a coworker I was writing a post on vegan chili, he said “what’s the point of that?”. Lately I have found vegan chili to be a very rewarding comfort food. You can devour the entire bowl and walk away with a feeling of lightness in your body. No need to sit still on the couch and feel sluggish while your food digests.

Another benefit to vegan chili is that it’s rather quick to whip up. You don’t want all the vegetables cooked down to nothing, so no need to simmer it for hours. Sure, cook down some to create a hearty and flavorful broth, but save a couple handfuls of fresh veggies to add towards the end. And speaking of convenience … usually I cook my beans from scratch, but I chose canned this time. If you use canned beans, just be sure to thoroughly rinse and strain them.

Preparing your Veggies

Prepare all your veggies ahead of time. Cooking with fresh plant-based ingredients is a super rewarding process due to the prep time. Be patient and treat the preparation as a separate event. My recipe involves roasting peppers on the stovetop, dicing all the onions, stripping corn from the cob, and rinsing the beans. This could all take about an hour of time. Also, have lots of bowls on hand to contain everything. Everything needs to be out and ready to add at a moment’s notice.

Veggie Stock for sweet potato chili

You can just add water to this sweet potato chili if you really need to, but adding stock just adds more flavor. A low-sodium store-bought stock can be fine. The Kitchn does a great job at breaking down the best brands. But if you have time to make your own, I highly recommend it. Just save your vegetable and herb skins, ribs, cores and stems in the freezer and/or gather up what you can find lying around. For this recipe you will have sweet potato skins, so definitely add those to your stock pot. Unlike meat stock, you don’t need to cook the heck out of it for hours. I find about 45 minutes on a low boil will do just fine.

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato (or 2 small), peeled and diced
• 1 large white onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 Poblano pepper
• 1 Serrano pepper
• 3 stalks of scallions
• 1 can of Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
• 15 oz. can black beans
• 15 oz. can  kidney beans
• 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 stalk of fresh corn
• 1-2 Avocado leaves (or Bay leaves)
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 

 

Instructions

1. To prepare all your base vegetables: Roast the peppers over an open flame on the stovetop, peel the skins and remover the core, inner ribs, and seeds. Mice the garlic, Serrano, and 3 Chipotle peppers. Dice cut your onions, scallions, roasted red and Poblano peppers into 1/4-inch sizes. Also, cut down your tomatoes to 1/4-inch sizes. Keep all veggies and aromatics separated. Reserve the sauces from the canned tomatoes and chipotle peppers.  
2. To cook the sweet potatoes: Peel and dice them into 1/4-inch pieces. Then toss them in some olive oil and roast them on a flat sheet pan in at 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. If you have an air fryer, cook them at 365 degrees for about 150 minutes. Or, to boil them … in a small pot, bring about 2 cups of salted water to a boil and let them cook down until just until tender. No matter how you cook your sweet potatoes, divide them in half. Mash half of them in a small bowl and set aside the dices ones. 
3. Meanwhile … in a large pot over medium heat, sauté the onions, garlic, scallions, Serrano, Chipotle peppers, poblano peppers, and red bell peppers until the onions begin to brown slightly. Stir in 3 tablespoons of Adobo sauce cumin, Mexican oregano and salt until all veggies and aromatics are thoroughly coated. Cook this until the Adobo sauce begins to caramelize slightly and herbs and spices become aromatic … about 5 minutes.
4. Add the vegetable stock, diced sweet potatoes and tomatoes. As you stir, scrape up as much as possible all tiny bits of caramelized goodness on the bottom of the pan. Bring everything to a boil for about 5 minutes, then reduce heat to low. 
5. To thicken your sweet potato chili, stir in the mashed sweet potatoes, simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring frequently. 
6. For optimal flavor, allow you chili to rest (preferably overnight in the fridge) and allow the flavors to meld together. Garnish with avocados, cilantro, pumpkin seeds, tostada chips, or the Cashew Lime “Crema” recipe below. 

Yield: 6-8 servings

 

Cashew Lime “Crema” for Sweet Potato Chili

What You need

• 2/3 cup raw cashews
• 2/3 cup water
• juice of 1 lime
• white vinegar to taste (about 2 tablespoons)

What to do

In a mini blender/Nutriubullet purée the water, cashews, lime, and vinegar until it turns creamy. Because measuring cashews can be irregular, you may need to add slightly more cashews than water. It may take up to 5 minutes to resemble real Mexican crema. Be patient.