Sweet Potato Chili

You could absolutely do this recipe in a crock pot, but I use this as my quick, throw together and make in less than 30 minutes recipe. I'm also a little nervous the sweet potato will get mushy by the end of the crock pot session. I adapted this from eatingwell.com's recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 sweet potatos, diced (with skin)
1/2 onion
1 celery stalk, cut into 1/2 inch sections
1 garlic clove, crushed/diced
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Dash of onion powder
Dash of salt & pepper
3 cups vegetable broth
Handful of sliced mushrooms
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 cup diced tomato (canned or fresh)

Fresh cilantro for garnish

Directions:
1. In an oiled medium-high head skillet, heat diced sweet potato, onion, and celery for 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Turn heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add vegetable broth and cover for 10 minutes or until sweet potato is soft.
4. Add mushrooms, beans, corn and tomatoes. Reduce heat to low and let sit for 4-5 minutes covered.
5. Top with fresh cilantro.

This is from my regular veggie chili, since my phone lost all my photos from this cook session.

-Lacey

Vegan White Chili

I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, who has some incredibly tasty recipes.  I simply adapted it to be vegan & crock pot friendly! (Her recipe calls for chicken, chicken broth, whole milk, cheese & it is cooked on a stove top.)

Ingredients:
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
1 can chopped green chillies
1 pound raw Great Norther Beans or Navy beans
8 cups Vegetable Broth
1 whole Jalapeno, sliced
1 1/2 Tablespoon ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
Salt to Taste
1 cup Soy milk
2 tablespoons cornmeal
Vegan Monterey Jack cheese (I could only find Pepper Jack)
Cilantro

Directions:
In a pan, saute onions and garlic in olive oil for 3 minutes. Add chopped green chillies.

Put onion, garlic, chillies mixture in your crock pot.

 Add rinsed beans & vegetable broth.  Add jalapenos, salt, pepper, and cumin. Turn crock pot on low for 4 hours.

After four hours (or when beans are soft), mix milk & cornmeal in a bowl.  Add to chili.  Add cayenne pepper & paprika.  Turn crock pot on high for 30 minutes.

Add your "cheese" and give in a few minutes to melt.  Serve in your bowl and top with fresh cilantro!

Thanks to The Pioneer Woman for putting this recipe together. I hope you all love the healthy adapted version I came up with.  I certainly loved it!

Veggie Chili

Fall is here and you can't do without a good,  hearty, warm chili for the cool evenings.  This is Lacey's own recipe! Change it to your liking though. Wanna add mushrooms? Go for it. Hate peppers? Take them out.  Add some tasty winter squash for added flavor. It's all about throwing what you love into the Crockpot for an easy meal ready  by dinner.

Ingredients
1 Green Pepper chopped
1 Orange Pepper chopped
1/4 c. Diced onion
2 chopped stalks of celery
2 c. corn
2 diced tomatoes
1 c. kidney beans
1 c. black beans
3 c. All natural or homemade tomato sauce
3 chopped carrots
1/2 c. Quinoa**
2 gloves garlic (pressed/chopped finely)
1 tsp. chili seasoning (or to taste)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 tsp. cumin (or to taste)
1 tsp. onion powder (or to taste)
1/2 cup vegetable broth
Pinch of salt

Directions
Put all ingredients in slow-cooker & stir. Cook on Low heat for 6 hours.

**Optional: Quinoa is very similar to rice. It's a small grain that looks sort of like couscous. You can either make this separately as a base underneath or add directly into the crock pot to be part of the chili.


If you're able, I challenge you not to buy your normal canned goods for this recipe (corn, kidney & black beans). Many of them are loaded with salt. If you choose to do so (which we have to resort to many times since beans must be prepped before being used in a recipe), buy no sodium or low sodium items.