A couple of months ago, I ran into my friend and former colleague Ayesha at an event in our beloved French bookstore, Albertine. The guest of honor was French journalist Marie-Monique Robin, who wrote many books about the food industry, including the critically acclaimed The World According to Monsanto. After an amazing and scary presentation, I was quite surprised to see Ayesha in the audience, as I hadn't seen her in many years. I remembered that several years back, after she left the banking industry, she had taken over responsibility for her family farm in the Philipines and turned it into an organic farm. She is also the founder of Advancement for Rural Kids (ARK), an organization that aims at bringing Philipino children back to school by providing them with food coming from sustainable agriculture. Anyway, Ayesha had some very valuable insight in the discussion with Marie-Monique, and we were incredibly happy to reunite after so long. As we walked back home together, we also discovered that we lived just a couple of blocks away, and promissed to have dinner together soon.
A few days later, it was our pleasure to have Ayesha and her husband Jerry for dinner at home. After checking with her if she had any food restrictions (aside from RoundUp), I decided to make a vegetarian (and vegan!) chile, which is a slightly modified version of my beef & turkey chile. I replace the meat with cubed sweet potatoes, which gives it a rather interesting twist. The vegetarian chile goes very well with my home made corn bread.
If you are interested in Ayesha's project, check the ARK website for insights on this wonderful initiative.
Ingredients (serves 8):
1.5 lb sweet potatoes, cut in large cubes
3 large carrots, cut in cubes
1 onion, grossly chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1 large can (800g) diced tomatoes
1 small can (400g) red kidney beans
1 small can (400g) chick peas
1 glass red wine
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp ground cumin (you may put more based on your taste)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
A few pinches ground chili pepper (optional)
1 vegetable bouillon cube
Olive oil
In a large Dutch oven, heat some olive oil (about 2 tbsp). Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and peppers, and cook on high heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the wine and let it evaporate for a few minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, chickpeas and beans, then all the spices, the balsamic vinegar and the chicken bouillon. Fill the tomato can with water and add. Season with salt and pepper (go easy for now as a lot of the liquid will evaporate), bring to a boil, then cook on low heat, uncovered, for about an hour, stirring from time to time. Add the sweet potatoes, stir, and cook for another hour. If you added them too early in the process, they would become too soggy.
About 30 minutes before serving, add some of the chopped cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with corn bread (see recipe on this blog), shredded cheddar cheese, creme fraîche and fresh cilantro.
In a large Dutch oven, heat some olive oil (about 2 tbsp). Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and peppers, and cook on high heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the wine and let it evaporate for a few minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, chickpeas and beans, then all the spices, the balsamic vinegar and the chicken bouillon. Fill the tomato can with water and add. Season with salt and pepper (go easy for now as a lot of the liquid will evaporate), bring to a boil, then cook on low heat, uncovered, for about an hour, stirring from time to time. Add the sweet potatoes, stir, and cook for another hour. If you added them too early in the process, they would become too soggy.
About 30 minutes before serving, add some of the chopped cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with corn bread (see recipe on this blog), shredded cheddar cheese, creme fraîche and fresh cilantro.
