Oh my.
I may have stumbled upon my staple dish for fall and winter. Or just anytime, really.
For the last year or so I’ve been tempted by chili that has sweet potatoes and/or quinoa. I decided to nix the dinner I’d planned to make on Sunday night because I couldn’t stop thinking about the sweet potato and quinoa turkey chili. Given how many times I’d talked myself out of making it, it was now or never. My only worry was that it would turn out to be another dish where it’s decent, but I probably wouldn’t make it again. I was (thankfully) wrong.
Unlike the original recipe, I didn’t cook this in my crock-pot since I knew there wouldn’t be enough room. (I really need to upgrade a size and find one that allows you to pick whether it’s on high or low heat…) Instead I cooked it on the stove, and on medium-low heat, it took about an hour for the sweet potatoes to cook (that apparently was my measure for whether it was done). I only had about half a cup of quinoa, so that ingredient was cut in half. I also decided to add red kidney beans since that’s one I love having in chili. Otherwise I followed the recipe as is.
I really think it’s the baked beans that sells it for me. It gives it a different flavor — almost smokey but also sweet from the maple and brown sugar. And the sweet potatoes surprised me as well. They were just the right consistency and packed a good punch of flavor. It leaves me feeling full but not heavy, and it’s healthy to boot.
The true measure for success, though, is that the whole pot of chili is almost gone. Aside from breakfast, I’ve happily had it at every meal. You know that’s saying a lot for me. And now I’m undoubtedly going to be the girl who craves and eats chili even when it’s 100 degrees outside…
Life After School 
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