Recipe: sweet potato and black bean chili

I don't know about you, but I love this time of year because it means soup!  I honestly can't think of a better meal on a cold night than a hot bowl of delicious soup. I've started my winter goal of making a pot of soup every week and the sweet potato and black bean chili I made last week was wonderful. I'm still on the fence about the spicy onion and apple soup I made this week. The more I eat it the better it gets but I don't know if I'd ever make it again. If I finally decide that I like it, I'll post the recipe. For now, you'll have to settle for just the chili.

You will need:

• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 4 teaspoons lime juice
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato and onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, chipotle and salt and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Add water and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the sweet potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Add beans, tomatoes and lime juice; increase heat to high and return to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

I did tweak a few things while making this recipe. First, I didn't add the ground chipotle chili, not because I didn't think it would be good but because I forgot to pick it up both times that I went to the store. I also left out the fresh cilantro because I don't personally care for cilantro. I'm pretty sure that I also added a bit of Frank's hot sauce because I was a bit shy on the called for amount of chili powder. You can play with the seasonings to make it as mild or hot as you like...there is no right or wrong. I got this recipe from eatingwell.com and one of the serving suggestions was to eat the soup with tortilla chips. I was pretty short on calories the days that I was eating this chili so I picked up some multigrain scoops and gave it a shot, boy was that good! Whether you eat it with a spoon or chip this is a must have chili for anybody who likes sweet potatoes or black beans.