Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili (crazy good...and healthy!)

....and did i mention it is cheap?  kate discovered this recipe from www.eatingwell.com and boy am i thankful she did.  i'm not gonna lie, at first i thought "black beans and sweet potato?  homegirl is crazy" but HOLY MOLY!! IT'S INCREDIBLE!  it is more like a soup than a chili, but it's so good who cares what people want to call it.  i tried to take pics of me going through the process so we'll see how this goes. 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled and diced (pics below on how i cut mine)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile (I used cayenne pepper instead)
• 2 1/2 cups water (I used chicken stock)
• 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 4 teaspoons lime juice
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

before we view the directions here are my pics on how i cut my sweet potato (keep scrolling down for the directions if you've got this part in the bag)

so obviously i peeled it, and then i cut it in half lengthwise.  i couldn't take a picture of that part because it took both hands.  use a large, sharp knife when doing that.  this picture, though, is the sweet potato with its' little hiney cut off so i could sit it up right and cut it lengthwise to make it thinner (see below)

so i cut them into "fingers" (so i call them) and then start to cube them. 

and now we continue with....

Directions:

• heat oil in a large pot oven over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato and onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is beginning to soften, about 4 minutes.You'll want to add about 2 teaspoons of salt at this point.

• add garlic, chili powder, cumin, chipotle/cayenne pepper and cook, stirring for 30 seconds. Add water/chicken stock and bring to a simmer.  Add a pinch more salt. (I know I sound salt crazy but I promise you it brings out flavor- if you feel crazy, just remember you are not consuming every ounce of salt you put in- it gets spread around!)
• cover, reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
• add beans and tomatoes, turning the heat back up to high to bring to a strong simmer.  the second it looks like it's bubbling a bit, turn it back down to low for about 5 minutes.  I tasted it at this point and it was good, but too chili powder-y so it needed the other flavors to be brought out so what did i do?  you guessed it.  added a couple pinches of salt.  don't worry, my heart still likes me.

• turn off the heat and allow the soup to sit 15-25 minutes before serving (trust me, it WILL stay hot this just allows the flavors to really merry together)
• serve with lime and cilantro- they reallllyyyyyy bring out the flavor!  they're not to be missed!

oh, and i doubled this recipe and it fed 6 people plus some leftovers that could probably feed 2 people but who are we kidding, i will eat all of it in one sitting.

side note: i also made some delicious carrot cake cupcakes tonight so instead of posting again i will simply show you the photo and share the link with you:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/grandma-hiers-carrot-cake-recipe/index.html

goodnight.