Comfort Food - Jacket Sweet Potato with Black Bean Chilli and Spinach

Jacket Potatoes are my thing! I eat them at least once a week, if not more. I used a sweet potato here because everyone needs a bit of variation, and I think I had eaten a normal jacket spud the day before ha. I didn't really intend this to be a recipe for the blog because its so quick and simple, but it tasted damn good and I thought it would be a good way to kick start my posting again, which has slowed down in recent weeks.

I'm going to be really honest, my anxiety has been really bad the last couple of weeks, and that is the main reason I have slowed down with posting. I have suffered from anxiety ever since I was a child, I can't even remember my first panic attack because they have pretty much always been a feature of my life. But for the most part my anxiety is pretty manageable these days.Until this recent resurgence of insecurity and not feeling good enough. And when I feel like that it's very hard to share recipes on the internet because I become highly critical of myself, my food, my photography, and I don't want to put myself out there. So in the midst of all this, I decided to make myself some good old comfort food, and what is better than a Jacket sweet potato and a ton of beans.

Beans are a very important food if you're vegan, legumes provide a great mix of protein and fibre, from a single cup of black beans you get 15 grams of both. This protein fibre mix is very beneficial to digestion, as they move through the digestive tract at a moderate rate helping to stabilise digestion and regulate blood sugar levels, something which is great if like me you are diabetic.

I hope to be back to my normal rate of posting soon, I have loads of ideas and plans, so look out for some exciting things coming up!

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes

1 tin of black beans

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

1 cup of water

4 cloves of garlic

1 red onion

2 teaspoons harissa spice mix (optional/can be substituted for harissa paste)

2 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon smoked garlic granules

2 teaspoons coconut cream

100g spinach

1 avocado (to serve)

1 tub of hummus (to serve)

Method

1) Place the sweet potato on a tray, season and place in the oven at 200'c for at least an hour.

2) In a saucepan heat a small amount of coconut oil, and fry the onions and garlic until they have softened. Add the spice to the onions and continue to fry for a couple of minutes.

3) Drain the black beans and add them to the saucepan. Add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato paste and coconut cream. Add the cup of water and bring to the boil. Once boiling reduce the heat and allow to simmer. Simmer the beans for around 40 mins, you want them to reduce and thicken.

4) Once the sweet potatoes have baked, remove the black beans from the heat and add half the spinach, stir it in so it wilts slightly.

5) Slice your sweet potato in half pour the beans over and garnish with the remaining spinach, avocado and hummus.