Most Saturday mornings, you can find us at one of the many farmer’s markets around town. Our 2 year old has been going since he was 6 weeks old, and is quite at home there. (In fact, anytime I ask him what he wants to do today, he says, “Go to Farmer’s Market!”)
Lately he has been very involved in the shopping process, as he loves to pick out the veggies, take them to the farmer and then hand over the money. It’s fun to see him so excited about buying fresh vegetables, and it is our hope that this is building a strong, healthy foundation for a lifelong love of nutritious food.
This past week, we bought some delicious sweet potatoes, onions, carrots and kale for use in the soups we love to make in the fall. I find that soup is the best way to get my son to eat lots of veggies.
Since the weather is turning cooler, I was craving chili, but knew I had to make a “non-spicy” (in other words no chili powder) chili. This is what I came up with:
Kid Friendly Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
Ingredients:
- 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 small onions, finely diced
- 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 2/3 cups water
- 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
- 1 14.5 ounce diced tomatoes
- 4 teaspoons lime juice
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 avocado, sliced
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and potato and cook, stirring, until the onion is slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and salt and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add water, bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to maintain simmer and cook until the potato is tender, about 12 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes and lime juice; increase heat to high and return to a simmer, cook until slightly reduced, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Divide evenly into bowls, and place sliced avocado on top for garnish.
This served our family of 3 for dinner, (and we all have BIG appetites) and we also had it for lunch the next day- so serves about 6-8.
Yum! I checked my calendar and I am definitely available next time you make this !
Man I should have had you over- we had tons! This recipe makes a lot. I usually eye-ball my ingredients, and then write down what I used, and my eyes were bigger than anyone’s stomachs that night.
Finally made this last night. It was delish…and my 21 month old ate her entire bowl…feeding herself with her own spoon. Quite a feat! Thank you. Please post more recipes 🙂