Baked Sweet Potatoes with Vegetable Chili from ‘Eat Yourself Calm’

‘Could you please move down?’

A far away echo – words yelled by just another, tired, mildly anxious, stressed somebody living the daily psychological torture that is commuting in the city. His words are muffled, I hear them from far behind my shoulders. I can tell he hasn’t made it on board yet. Someone pushes the crowd crammed by the door a little further, just enough to get one last person inside the carriage. He didn’t make this train. Who knows if he will make the next.

London can really turn people into the ghost version of themselves – into selfish, cynical, rushed, distressed, single individuals who feel they are constantly battling against the world. I sometimes surprise myself thinking, ‘We are too many here, and between me and you, I choose me’. People are absolutely everywhere – so many that a feeling of oppression is truly physical, palpable. My hair got pulled many times by strangers trying to reach for the phone in their pocket. Many times I had no personal space in any direction, and my hands were dangerously close to someone else butt.

And oh, the rush. There are mornings when I wake up and all I do is avoid people. If you have ever been unlucky enough to be at Waterloo station at rush hour you’ll know what I mean: people coming from all directions, going as fast as a bullet, following the same path every day, knowing exactly their route and hating every human or object standing in their way. It feels like being in a video game: you need prompt reflexes to avoid them at the last second while crossing your trajectory, or someone will be hurt. It’s exhausting. It’s sad. We are all fighting the same battle, it seems, but there is no space for compassion, or empathy. There is only the worry to tick all the checklist boxes for the day- to make it safe and sound to the next. Which is sadly going to look exactly like the one before.

I hate this version of myself – rushed, distracted, exhausted, selfish. Particularly as the holiday season approaches, I am trying to push myself away from it all as much as I can, because if I don’t, I will eventually push away all that I care about instead.Food has always played a crucial role in keeping my mental health in line. The mere act of cooking something from scratch, albeit simple or familiar or even unimaginative, but with the power of making me immediately present to what I am doing, is the most relaxing activity I can think of.


So when this book arrived in my mailbox, it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. Eat Yourself Calm is full of great tips to survive stressful periods – like the rush before Christmas, for some – through a balanced diet rich in calming foods. It has some very interesting recipes too, and most of them are right up my alley being packed with vegetables, seasonal and easily adaptable to suit one’s whims or ingredients on hand. I was immediately attracted by a recipe for sweet potatoes stuffed with a vegetarian chili. It sounded exactly like the kind of dinner I love to come home to when tired and famished – one I can make once, in large batches, and eat for a few days. Is there anything more comforting than the thought of a good, nourishing dinner waiting you at home that just needs a quick warm up in the oven? This is food I like to eat.

I am sharing the recipe here with some mild personal adaptations, but you can find the original version (as you find it on the book) on the Urban Outfitter’s Blog, where I am a guest blogger for this week’s On The Menu column.

Baked Sweet Potatoes 
with Vegetable Chili 

The main ingredients in this recipe are sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, peppers and pulses – all which I learnt having ‘calming’ and de-stressing properties. It is indeed a nutrient-dense dish, and you’ll notice it as soon as you taste it: it makes you feel good at first bite. The chili can keep in the fridge for a few days and it freezes well. You can serve it in warm corn tortillas, or with tortilla chips.

Serves 4

4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed

2 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin)

1 large onion, chopped

½ butternut squash (about 400g), peeled and cubed

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and chopped

1 zucchini, cubed (or other seasonal veg, I used 2 medium carrots)

1 red chili, seeded and finely sliced

1 green chili, seeded and finely sliced

3 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 400g (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 400g (15 oz) can red kidney beans, 
rinsed and drained

2 400g (14½ oz) cans chopped tomatoes

1 large bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped, stalks set to one side

Sea salt and black pepper

½ cup sour cream, to serve (I used Greek yogurt)

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until soft all the way through when pricked with a fork. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion. Cook over medium heat until golden and caramelized. Add the squash, cayenne pepper, cumin, and cinnamon and season to taste. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the bell peppers, carrots, chillies, and garlic and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add the chickpeas, beans, and tomatoes and the stems from the bunch of cilantro. Simmer the chili covered, for about 25 minutes, until the sauce is thick and the vegetables tender, adding a little 
water if it becomes too dry.

Season to taste, sprinkle with the cilantro leaves, and serve with the baked sweet potatoes topped with the sour cream or yogurt.

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Disclaimer: a copy of Eat Yourself Calm was kindly sent to me by Urban Outfitters. All opinions are my own.