Chili Con Broccoli -- Continuing Crockpot Adventures

Oops, I just realized that athough I had posted the cornmeal polenta that I made as a side for this dish -- actually, I sliced it and used it as a base, and put the chili on top -- yum -- I neglected to post this recipe. It was sitting there, languishing in my 'drafts' section. Sorry!

It's quite zesty and bright in its flavours -- not as mellow as the chickpea stew from a week or two ago. However, we enjoyed it very much, and the mellowness of the polenta was an excellent foil for these flavours.

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1 onion finely chopped -- about 1/2 cup

1 tbsp finely minced garlic

3/4 cup diced carrot

1/2 cup diced celery

1 1/2 cups cooked kidney beans

5 or 6 cups diced organic roma tomatoes -- 1 1/2 or 2 lbs

1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp marjoram
1 tsp mesquite powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp basil
black pepper

1 1/2 cup cubed sweet potato

2 cups broccoli florets (either lightly steamed or defrosted from frozen) (250 g)


directions:

1. turn your crockpot on to High, and set the timer for 6 hours, (if you have that long -- a longer cooking time will mellow and meld the flavours more, and improve the dish)
2. layer as follows:
a) coconut oil
b) garlic
c) onion
d) celery
e) carrot
f) tomato
g) 1/2 of salt, pepper, herbs, mesquite etc
h) kidney beans
i) sweet potato and rest of salt
3. after the cooking has finished, turn off the heat and stir in the  broccoli florets.

Typical of tomato based dishes, this tastes great the next day. If you like you can serve it with polenta, quinoa, bagels, bread, nothing, or whatever else strikes your fancy.

My three year old enjoyed this very much, and for him I cut polenta into small cubes and ladled the stew on top. It was a big hit.