Sweet Potato Black Bean Soup w/ Chipotle Cheddar Cornbread

This soup was inspired by a burrito that we make at Bohemia, the cafe where Jenny works. All these flavours are so good together in a burrito, I thought why not in a soup?! And it is the easiest recipe with delicious results. Thanks to Jen McCullough, our dear friend and sous chef.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Soup

You will need: (to serve 4-6)

• 3-4 good sized sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch chunks
• 2 yellow cooking onions, diced
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp chili powder (use really hot stuff if you like it, but I use the kind you would put in a pot of chili)
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
• 2 Tbsp chipotle peppers in sauce, minced (this comes in little cans, usually in the aisle with salsa and taco kits at the grocery store)
• 2 cans of diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 3 cans of black beans, rinsed
• 4-6 cups good chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• sour cream and lime wedges to garnish

What to do:

• saute the onions until soft
• add garlic and all spices, as well as some salt and pepper, cook for a few minutes until fragrant
• add potatoes and diced tomatoes, cook for another 5 minutes with the lid on.
• add stock and bring to a boil.
• reduce heat to low and simmer, adding the beans and tomato paste. Simmer for 30 min if you can, it gets better if the potatoes and bean can break down and thicken the soup a bit.
• Add more salt and pepper to taste.
• Stir in cilantro right before serving.
• Garnish with sour cream and lime wedges. Sometimes I mix some of the minced chipotles into the sour cream for an extra kick. mmm, good.

Chipotle Cheddar Cornbread (Modified from the ReBar cookbook)

You will need:

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup gluten free all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk or yogurt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 5 Tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup grated old cheddar cheese
• 2-3 tbsp minced chipotle peppers in sauce

What to do:

• preheat oven to 400 F
• combine all dry ingredients and cheese in a medium sized bowl
• in a small bowl whisk together remaining ingredients except the chipotles
• add the wet to the dry and gently fold to combine, adding in the chipotle peppers at the end so as not to colour your batter orange by over-mixing.
• grease a baking pan or cast iron skillet with butter and dust with cornmeal
• pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 min of until top is browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• let cool for a few minutes before cutting.