Black Bean and Sweet Potato Turkey Chili

By Paul Briand

This recipe had us at sweet potato.

My wife Jane and I are big sweet potato fans. And, since you can never have enough chili recipes, we decided to give this recipe, which I found at OurBestBites.com, a whirl.

There’s a lot that goes into it, which makes for a fair amount of prep. But the end result is well worth it, especially at 160 calories per serving for those of you who care about such things.

A couple of observations: You’ll need a very large slow cooker (or pot). If not, halve this. If cooking in a pot on a stove (as I did), you may not need all the beef broth as shown. I ended up using about half.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, diced (any color)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 bell pepper, diced
1-2 jalapenos, minced
20 ounces ground turkey breast
8 ounces mushrooms, minced (about 2 heaping cups)
2 teaspoons cumin
2  teaspoons kosher salt
½  teaspoons pepper
1  teaspoon oregano
1  teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2  teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes*
1 28 ounce can tomatoes (not drained)
2 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
32 ounces beef broth (one box/carton)
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree (make sure you’re not using pumpkin pie filling :)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions
1. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil and add onion, garlic, bell pepper, and jalapenos. Saute for about 5 minutes, until veggies are tender and fragrant.  Add to slow cooker or pot;
2. In same skillet, heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Add turkey and mushrooms and stir to combine;
3. Sprinkle in cumin, salt, pepper, oregano, chili powder and smoked paprika. Add turkey mixture to slow cooker;
4. Add sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans, broth, pumpkin, cinnamon, and cocoa powder to slow cooker and stir to combine;
5. Place lid on pot and cook for 4-6 hours on high, or 8-10 on low, let stand with lid off for 10-15 minutes before serving;
6. If using a pot on a stove, cook over medium low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally. It will thicken as liquid steams off;
7. When the sweet potatoes are tender turn off heat and serve with favorite toppings.

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