Speedy Sweet Potato, Kale and Chicken Chili

This week I did a lot of “couch surfing” as my rental suite needed some upgrades. With that being said, I ended up eating out a lot this week. However, I did make a meal prep recipe for the family I nanny for and decided to document this journey instead. This week the recipe was a vegan sweet potato chili that I got from Healthy Happy Life by Kathy Patalsky. I will link the recipe below. The family I made it for had some modifications, so the instructions in my blog post will be the ones that I followed from Kathy, as well as my modifications. Keep in mind, my version of the recipe is not vegan.

This isn’t the first time I’ve made this recipe for this family. It’s always a hit in their household, and they have a toddler, so you know it must be good! I can testify that this is definitely the best chili I’ve ever had (if you make it with my modifications). The family always let me take some home for lunch the next day, so I decided to keep the container they gave me and see how well this chili holds up after 5 days in the fridge (how long it would sit if I made it on Sunday and ate the last portion on a Friday). The nice thing about this chili, as it can be frozen and easily reheated which makes for super quick dinners and lunches down the road. Not to mention, the title is accurate, it’s speedy! It never takes me very long to prepare, and it feeds a family of three for about a week or two. However, it’s important to know that the recipe modifications I provide below are double the recipe that I pinned above. If you choose to double it as well, you can always freeze some portions! One thing I learned from making this chili recipe this time around, was that I was wasting time by following the recipe exactly. I used to do all the prep first, and then start making the chili. However, this time I was a little more rushed for time so I did half the prep while I was waiting for the first half of the chili to cook. I added these modifications to my instructions below. This was really a really important and eye opening realization for me, as it ended up saving me about 15 minutes. I was then able to use this time to complete other tasks. As a student, saving time cooking is always a plus! This recipe is perfect for that.

Speedy Sweet Potato, Kale and Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 12oz. cans cooked red kidney beans
• 2 12 oz. cans cooked lentils
• 2 6 oz. cans of tomato paste
• 4 tablespoons of dark chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons of chili powder
• 6 cups of chicken broth
• 2 small onions
• 2 red bell peppers
• 4 bunches of kale
• About half a chickens worth of shredded chicken
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 bay leafs
• 2 cups of corn (I use frozen corn).
• Garnish
  • Avocado
  • Plain greek yogurt

Instructions

• Wash and dice the sweet potatoes and put them into a large bowl.
• Dice your onion and pepper and put them together into a large bowl.
• Shred half a chickens worth of chicken.
• In a very large pot, add the olive oil over high heat. When hot, add the onion and pepper and saute until the onions are translucent.
• Add in the sweet potato, bay leaves, and broth. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender.

• While sweet potatoes cook, dump your beans into a strainer and run them under cold water until the water runs clear. Put them in a large bowl and repeat the process with the lentils, adding them to the same bowl.
• Add the chili powder, tomato paste, chocolate chips and corn to the bowl of lentils and beans.

• When the sweet potatoes are tender, add the bowl with the lentils and beans.
• Simmer over medium and stir until all the flavours melt together and the chili thickens.
• While the chili thickens, wash and remove the spine from the kale. Then cut it into salad sized pieces. Add the kale and shredded chicken to the pot.

• If the chili is too thick, you can add more broth. If the chili is too watery, simmer uncovered to thicken.

• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Portion the chili into your meal prep containers and put them in the fridge or freezer.
• To garnish, add chunks of avocado and a dollop of plain greek yogurt.

By the end of the 5 days, this chili still tasted exactly the same as it did the night I made it. I have zero complaints or modifications in order to make this a better meal prep recipe. 5/5 review, I would highly recommend.

I always really enjoy when I get to cook at work, as I’m able to learn new techniques that I can use towards my inquiry project. Cooking is about constantly adapting and changing recipes in order to meet time restraints, adapting food preferences, and portion needs. I’m glad that this time around I was able to learn some time saving tricks when it comes to making this recipe. Next time, I will be even faster making this recipe because of these tricks.