Sweet Potato Curry Chili

A few weeks ago, my husband asked: “Hey, have you ever tried putting curry powder in chili?” I immediately was like, well, no, but that sounds kind of amazeballs. And so I did what any good home cook would do: I went to the interwebs. After a bit of searching I found that not only is curry powder in chili common, but that people seem to really, really like it. So with this PaleOMG recipe as culinary and flavoring inspiration, I got to creating my very own version with the healthy goodies I had at home. Readers, say hello to Sweet Potato Curry Chili!

I’ll be pretty honest — I kind of lucked out when throwing this together. Rarely do I get a new creation totally right the first time, and remember exactly what I did, and take a photo. But the healthy foodie gods aligned! Gluten-free, high-protein and totally delicious (you’d have to remove the beans to make it Paleo, but it’s totally doable), I have just one thing to say: Bon appétit!

Sweet Potato Curry Chili Recipe

Ingredients
2 pounds ground grass-feed beef
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
16 ounces baby bella mushrooms
1 ginormous sweet potato, diced (or 2 regular-sized ones)
1 32-ounce can whole tomatoes
1 15.5-ounce can kidney beans
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
3 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons garam masala
salt and pepper, to taste
sriracha, to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
1. Brown beef over medium-high heat. Remove from pan, draining off excess fat (but, you know, leave a little bit in for the next step).
2. Cook onion and garlic and mushrooms at the same temperature until softened. Add sweet potato.
3. Puree tomatoes and beans with coconut milk and spices in a blender or a food processor until mostly smooth but still a little bit chunky. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Pour your puree in with the onion, garlic, mushrooms and sweet potatoes. Add the browned meat. Simmer 1 hour.
5. Dish up and garnish each bowl with a drizzle of sriracha if you like it and plenty of chopped cilantro.
This makes a big pot, so it’s perfect for serving to a crowd (Super Bowl, anyone?) or simply to nosh on all week long as leftovers! What’s your favorite twist on traditional chili? —Jenn