Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili

Blogging Marathon# 61: Week 3/ Day 3 Theme: Dishes using Root Vegetables Dish: Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili
For the final day of this week's marathon I made a hearty and comforting chili with sweet potato, quinoa and black beans. This is a one pot meal that is great to make on a weeknight too.
Sweet potato is a tuberous root with a smooth skin with different colors like yellow, orange, red, brown, purple and beige. Even the color of the flesh differs from one variety to the other from beige, through white, red, orange and purple. Something new that I learnt is that the sweet potatoes with white or pale yellow flesh are less sweet and moist than those with red or orange flesh.
My family loves sweet potato fries and these spelt parathas that I tried recently were also a big hit. This curry with peanut sauce is also one of my favorite.
Today's dish is a spicy and delicious chili. Idea for this dish came from a meal we had at Ikea. Ikea has been serving some amazing vegetarian dishes recently including veggie meatballs. They serve the meatballs with hearty sweet potato-quinoa chili and steamed veggies.
I tried to recreate the same at home. I made it spicy, but tone down the spices for a milder dish. Sweet potato and quinoa cook around the same time making this a delicious one pot meal which can be made in about 30~45 minutes. Serve with the toppings of choice, crumbled tortilla chips, sour cream and shredded cheese are my favorite.

Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili (Serves 3~4) Ingredients:

• 2 Medium Sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1cup Quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1 Medium Onion, diced
• 2 Garlic cloves, minced
• 1cup Cooked Black beans
• 1cup Tomato puree
• 2½~3cups Vegetable stock or Water
• ½~1tsp Chili powder (adjust as per taste)
• 1tsp Ground Cumin (adjust as per taste)
• ¼~½tsp Cayenne Pepper (adjust as per taste)
• To taste Salt & Pepper
• 3tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped
• As needed Tortilla Chips (for serving)
• 1 Avocado, peeled and diced (for garnish)
• As needed Shredded Cheese
• As needed Sour Cream

Method:

1. Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a medium saucepan, add onion, garlic and cook for 3~4 minutes or until the onion turns translucent.
2. Next add the tomato puree, chili powder, ground cumin and cayenne pepper. Cook for 4~5 minutes.
3. Add chopped sweet potatoes, stir well and cook for few minutes.
4. Next add the drained quinoa, vegetable stock or water, black beans, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil; lower the heat, cover the pot and cook for 18~20 minutes or until quinoa is cooked through and sweet potato is tender.
5. If the chili looks too thick, add some water to get the desired consistency. Taste and adjust the seasonings accordingly. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot or warm with toppings of choice.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 61.