This post contains two recipes which, when combined, yield a very nice pot of chili for four. I recommend doubling the bean recipe and setting half aside so that you can throw together quick dinners of tacos, huevos ranchers and the like throughout the week.

Spicy Black Beans

• 1/2 pound black beans
• 1 tablespoon lard, bacon drippings or other pork fat
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano (or epazote if you’ve got it)
• 2 dried chili de arbol (or substitute cayenne pepper to taste)
• salt and pepper

1. Add the beans to a large pot along with enough water to cover them by a few inches. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat and let them sit for an hour or more.
2. Add the pork fat, onions, garlic, bay leaf and oregano. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for one hour.
3. Add the whole peppers and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for another 30-60 minutes until the beans are quite soft and the cooking liquid has thickened. Remove bay leaf and chilis, transfer beans and cooking liquid to another container, give the pot a quick rinse, and move on to the next recipe.

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili with Hot Beef Sausage

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 links hot beef sausage, sliced into discs (If you can get your hands on Lewis Waite Farm‘s version, I recommend doing so because YUM. But any kind of spicy sausage would yield a great dish.)
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried chipotle and/or smoked habanero powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (Trust me on this; it’s your secret weapon.)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 batch spicy black beans (see above)
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

1. Bring the oil up to medium heat in a large pot. Fry your sausage slices in two batches, allowing them to brown and crisp in places.
2. Remove the sausage, lower the heat a bit and add your onions. (If there wasn’t much fat left from your sausage, you could add a little more olive oil at this point.) Saute until starting to soften, then add in the spices and cook stirring constantly for one minute. Do the same with the tomato paste.
3. Dump your reserved beans and sausage into the pot along with the cider vinegar and enough water that everything is just submerged. Let simmer for 30 minutes, then add the sweet potatoes. Let simmer for another hour. You can add water as you go if needed, but the goal is more of a thick sauce than a broth. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if needed.

I served this garnished with thinly sliced scallions, avocado slices and some Greek yogurt to counterbalance all of that heat.