Day 1: Lunch

Today's lunch consisted of black bean and sweet potato chili and a green salad with tomatoes, onions, and Whole Foods brand shiitake mushroom vinaigrette. I'd say it was a success.

The chili was very tasty and very easy to cook- I'd have to say I will make it again. But this recipe will need a little bit of tweaking to be perfect. For one, it was a little thin; I think a couple handfuls of TVP might be just the thing for it. The recipe calls for only ten minutes of cooking time after adding the tomatoes, but for this many sweet potatoes, that just won't do. I'd say at least twenty. For such a huge recipe (it made eleven cups) it didn't  call for nearly enough spices. My suggestion would be to double the cumin and chili powder, use at least two more garlic cloves, and maybe even zest and juice another lime. If you're one for lots of heat (I'm really not), add another jalapeno, or maybe even a serrano or two. (This might even be the rare recipe that a habanero wouldn't overpower.) What purpose the cocoa powder served I can't figure out.

If you want to try the recipe, here it is:

• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2" cubes
• Zest and juice of one lime
• 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes (DO NOT make the mistake of getting Italian-style tomatoes with basil, as I did without even thinking.)
• 4 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, or 6 cups cooked black beans (I used the canned kind- shoot me.)
• 1 jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 tbsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. cocoa powder
• Cilantro, for garnish

1. Warm the oil in a large Dutch oven. Add onion, red pepper, garlic and salt. Saute until soft, about 4 minutes.

2. Add the sweet potato and lime zest; cook 10-15 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

3. Add tomatoes, black beans, jalapeno, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and cocoa. Simmer covered for 10 minutes. (As aforementioned, you'll need to cook it a little longer than that.)

4. Serve with chopped cilantro.

This is my second bowl. It actually looks really good, doesn't it? It was. And high in lycopene, beta carotene, and fiber.