Recipe: Spicy vegan chili simmers in the slow cooker
After six-plus hours in the slow cooker, the chili is ready. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)
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The color changes of fall happen inside as well as outside the house. In the kitchen, it's the season of orange vegetables, as winter squashes, pumpkins, carrots and sweet potatoes come into their own.
Sweet potatoes finally are being used for more than marshmallow-topped casseroles -- hello, seasoned fries! -- but these vitamin A-packed tubers have a lot of unexplored potential.
In this recipe, freely adapted from one I found on the New York Times Cooking website, the root vegetable pairs with black beans for a hearty, spicy main dish. A side of cornbread or a green salad are all you need to add to the meal. (Bonus: The kitchen smells amazing while the chili is cooking.)
I simmered this in my slow cooker, but it can be put together on a stovetop without too much trouble. I recommend choosing fire-roasted tomatoes if you're buying cans; I used a 15-ounce can of fire-roasted and a pint jar of home-canned crushed tomatoes in this.
I also peeled one sweet potato and left one unpeeled, to see if there was any difference in texture after cooking, but there wasn't. And I used the cayenne and all 4 chipotles, which kicked the temperature to pretty-hot, but this chili will taste great at any spice level.
Any leftovers can be frozen for a later lunch or dinner.
Spicy black bean and sweet potato chili
Ingredients:
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1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
2 large sweet potatoes, about 1-1/2 pounds total, peeled or unpeeled as desired
3-1/2 to 4 cups crushed or diced tomatoes, including juice
1 cup vegetable broth, plus up to 1/2 cup more if needed
Juice of 1 lime (about 1-1/2 tablespoons)
1 to 4 chipotle peppers from a can of chipotles in adobo, chopped, plus 3 tablespoons of the adobo sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, optional
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup or more of frozen corn, rinsed to almost defrost it
Optional topping(s):
Crushed tortilla chips, minced red onion, slices of avocado, chopped cilantro, shredded vegan or dairy cheese, or nondairy sour cream
Instructions:
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In a skillet on medium-high heat, heat the oil and gently cook the chopped onion just until soft. Add the garlic, and stir, about 1 minute. Don't let the garlic brown. Add onions and garlic to the beans in the slow cooker.
Chop the sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch pieces and add those to the slow cooker. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, lime juice, chipotles and adobo sauce, brown sugar, cumin, salt, cayenne if using, and plenty of black pepper to taste.
Cook on low setting for at least 6 hours. At that point, check the sweet potatoes; they should be tender. If the chili seems watery, mash the reserved black beans and stir them in. If the consistency is fine, stir in the beans without mashing. If it seems too thick, add some of the extra vegetable broth until it's the right consistency.
Taste and add more salt or pepper as desired. Finally, stir in the corn to warm through. (One cup seemed fine to me, but add more corn if desired.)
The chili can continue to cook for up to 2 more hours, depending on serving time, or it can hold on warm.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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