Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

Greetings friends! For those of you who don't know, I am now cooking vegetarian Sunday Night Suppers at the Brillobox (an incredibly popular bar/performance space practically at the end of my street) so I thought I'd revive this blog for all you out of towners who can't make it each week so you can check in to see what I made via the photo documentation of Peter Pawlowski.

So how did all this come to be? Actually I just proposed the idea to the owner one night after I realized there was no Sunday night cook. He loved the idea and wanted to get started right away so this past weekend was the first dinner! I'm creating the menu, shopping for the food, cooking and serving back in the kitchen. I basically get to pretend I have a restaurant for one day a week which is a truly amazing opportunity! Thanks to everyone who came out and to Eric for having faith in me before you'd even tasted my cooking! Thanks also to my new friend Aaron who signed on to help me with prep work and ended up staying till the bitter end.

I made Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili over spicy fried (deep fried thanks to Aaron) polenta with a mixed green salad topped with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette, crispy tortilla strips and fresh cilantro (see photo).

I had such a great time, people loved the food and there was only one bowl of chili left at the end of the night! What I think people respond to with my cooking is that it's just good food that happens to be vegetarian not vegetarian food that happens to be good.

This coming Sunday's menu...
Homemade 3 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese topped with pesto and tomatoes with a side of Garlicky Greens. Dinner starts at 6pm and goes until the food runs out. The cost is $10 and it comes with a bottle of beer.

Hope to see you on Sunday!