There is nothing better than a hot bowl of anything on a cold fall night. This could be a thick butternut squash soup or a tempeh shepherd’s pie, but one of the dishes I seem to crave most often is veggie chili. There are so many versions, from those that are light and soupy to those that are thick and hearty, and I could eat it almost every day and never get bored. Personally, thick and hearty is the way I like best, as I jump at any excuse to incorporate sweet potatoes into a dish.

Serves 3-4:

Ingredients:

3 cups of water (or more, for a liquidy final product) 1 cup of wheat berries 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed 2-inch slice of medium white onion, chopped 2 cups of diced tomatoes (canned) 1 1/2 cups of kidney beans, rinsed 3/4 cup of black beans, rinsed 3/4 cup of corn 6 sprigs of thyme 3 tsp of chili powder (more, to taste) 2 tsp cumin 1 tsp paprika 3 stalks of cilantro, chopped for garnish

Method:

Bring water to a boil and add wheat berries and sweet potatoes Bring to a simmer After 10-15 minutes, add tomatoes and white onion (add some of the tomato liquid or not, depending on whether you want a more liquidy chili) Add 3 sprigs of thyme and simmer, stirring occasionally After about 10 minutes, add kidney beans, black beans, corn, and the remainder of the thyme and the spices For about 10-15 minutes, keep stirring and break up any pieces of sweet potato that seem too large Add more chili powder if needed Remove from heat when the desired texture has been achieved Garnish with cilantro and serve

From start to finish, my stovetop time was about 40 minutes. The times at which I added in the different ingredients are approximate, and as long as the sweet potatoes and wheat berries are cooked and all the ingredients have enough time to simmer together and soak up all of their yummy flavours, the chili will taste fabulous!

Note: wheat berries are supposed to be slightly “chewy” and not soft, making them a perfect contrast to the soft sweet potatoes