RECIPE | vegetarian chili soup & baked sweet potatoes with chili & cheese

Last October I had the chance to host a cooking course as part of a conference called Hacking Happiness. The goal was to show how to make a simple, healthy meal without needing a ton of equipment or time, and I chose to make a vegetarian chili to also demonstrate how to be creative with leftovers. The chili is excellent as a soup with a side of cornbread, or over a baked sweet potato (or "jacket" potato in the UK). At the end of the class, we all sat down to enjoy our meal over a bottle of wine (or two), and went over the tips to eating it mindfully (listed at the end of the post).

This recipe was initially inspired by the cheesy beef chili over jacket potato that I tried at Look Mum No Hands in Old Street, which was delicious but left me comatose for much of the afternoon. I lightened it up by omitting the beef and by using much tastier sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. The pierced sweet potatoes can also be cooked for 5-7 minutes in a microwave if you have one to save time, but will not be as flavorful as oven-roasted potatoes.




VEGETARIAN CHILI TWO WAYS | CHILI STEW & JACKET SWEET POTATOES WITH CHILI & CHEESE

JACKET SWEET POTATO
1 sweet potato per person, scrubbed

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork and place them directly on an oven rack, putting a tray lined with foil underneath to catch any juices. Roast for 45­-55 minutes, until tender when pierced.

BLACK BEAN & KIDNEY BEAN CHILI
olive oil
1 onion, peeled & diced
2 carrots, peeled & diced
2 celery stalks, diced
4-­5 cloves garlic
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp coarsely ground cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika or chipotle
1⁄4-1 tsp red chili flakes (depending on your heat tolerance)
2 cans black beans
2 cans kidney beans
1 680mL jar of tomato passata or 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
2 tsp red wine vinegar or vinegar-­based hot sauce
chopped scallions & cilantro or parsley to garnish
shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS
Sauté the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, and chili flakes in olive oil until the vegetables are tender, about 4­-5 minutes. Add the cans of beans with their juices, the jar of passata or cans of tomatoes, and about 500mL water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least 20 minutes to blend the flavors. Add the red wine vinegar or hot sauce, then taste and adjust seasoning. Garnish with chopped scallions and cilantro or parsley, and shredded cheese. Serve with cornbread, toasted sourdough bread, or as a filling for jacket potatoes (directions follow).

TO ASSEMBLE JACKET POTATOES
Turn on broiler. Split roasted sweet potato lengthwise down the middle to open up. Spoon chili, pouring off some of the liquid, into the centre of the potato and sprinkle with cheese and scallions. Broil until cheese is melted and brown, 2­-5 minutes. Garnish with additional chopped herbs and serve.

HOW TO EAT CHIC | TIPS ON EATING MINDFULLY

1. Learn how to cook - you are less likely to inhale your food if you just spent 30 minutes making it. 
2. Sit at a table - set out placemats and napkins and sit down to your meal rather than lounging with a bowl in your lap on the couch. 
3. Plate your food - put effort into the presentation as though you were serving it to someone else. When you don’t just eat out of a bag or dump it in a bowl, you are more likely to savor it and pay attention to portion sizes. 
4. Make eating your focus - try not to watch TV or read while eating, but if you must... 
5. Put down your fork or spoon - put your fork or spoon down between bites and chew. You do not need to be prepared for the next bite while still finishing the current one. Putting your utensils down will help you pay attention to the food in your mouth. 
6. Identify the ingredients in your meal - as you chew, pay attention to the different textures and flavors on the plate. Try to identify the different spices and seasonings in the dish. (This will also help improve your creativity in the kitchen.) 
7. Wait before going back for more - do not go back for seconds on autopilot - wait to allow your brain and stomach to process whether you are really still hungry. If you need to reheat your food you will be less likely to mindlessly serve yourself another portion. Also if you don’t finish everything, remember that you then get leftovers - two meals for the effort of one.

If all else fails, pretend that someone is watching you eat. Would you want Ryan Gosling to see you standing in your kitchen with a spoon scarfing down a tub of peanut butter? Didn’t think so.

RECIPE | how to eat chic

As I acknowledged in the previous post, 2014 was a crazy year for me. I spent much of May-December working twenty-hour days, seven days a week, and survived on my love of coffee, substituting sugar for sleep, and replacing home-cooked meals with takeout. (Pretty good takeout, but takeout nonetheless.) This was not the healthiest routine to pick up, and was certainly a drastic change from my usual generally balanced eating and living habits. Though I am not generally one for making New Year's resolutions, I have to admit that it is the perfect time to reset and go back to the lifestyle that once kept me healthy, energetic, and sane.

This post's recipe is not for an actual dish, but rather a recipe for "eating chic." Despite people throughout my life mistaking me for a vegetarian or vegan (I still don't know whether I should take that as a compliment or not), I do not follow any dietary restrictions other than the fact that I only eat actual food, and eat it mindfully. In my opinion, processed food that is engineered to be addictive by adding salt/sugar/lab-created ingredients is infinitely more harmful than a bowl of carb- and gluten-filled homemade pasta (unless you have an actual gluten-intolerance, of course).

This is not a diet or way to fit into your skinny jeans by the end of the week (those are passé anyway), but rather a way of living that lets you enjoy real food, avoid neurotic tendencies toward food and weight, and actually enjoy what you eat. So without further delay,

HOW TO EAT CHIC: a recipe

EAT:
1) mindfully
2) mostly plants
3) unprocessed and organic where possible
4) low sugar* and low alcohol
5) three meals daily (snack on fruit and nuts but only if hungry)

ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES:
1) drink a lot of water throughout the day
2) exercise at least 30 minutes, 4-5 times a week
3) sleep at least 6 hours a night

[Please note that I am not a nutritionist or diet expert - this is just the way of living I have followed naturally for most of my life.]

After the most extreme life change I've experienced to date temporarily caused me to lose sight of these guidelines for much of 2014, I am recommitting to #eatingchic in 2015. I'll elaborate on each of the guidelines in future posts, in addition to sharing more recipes and highlighting my favorite places for chic eats. 

*Including sources like maple syrup, honey, dates, etc. I do not demonize refined sugar to the extent that many food bloggers do today; I just treat any form of sugar as a special occasion and enjoy it sparingly.