Vegetarian Chili Mac

I've always been intrigued by putting certain spices into savoury foods. In high school I found a recipe for tomato sauce that involved adding cinnamon - it was supposedly 'Sicilian' - and I was hooked. I tend to look out for recipes that include cinnamon, coriander, cloves, nutmeg etc in dinner foods. I also got a great vegan cookbook a few years ago called Supermarket Vegan and with it discovered Cincinnati's own Chili Mac, a "cinnamon-spiked" chili served over spaghetti.

I heated up some olive oil in a large pan, and added 1 diced onion and 1 diced red pepper. I also had some sweet potato in the fridge, already cut up, so I thought that would be good to add in as well - more carbs but they go so well with cinnamon. Then I added the spices: 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp each of sugar, cumin, oregano and 1/4 tsp each cinnamon and allspice. The allspice I added because I had just bought some and never used it before.

Have I mentioned how easy this recipe is? I like this cookbook because it doesn't include fake soy meats or ingredients you can only get at natural stores - strange for a vegan book. No, this book is all about easy recipes with stuff you can buy at the grocery store. All that was left to add to the chili sauce was a can of red beans and a can of diced tomatoes. The recipe suggested buying the kind with chilies - I didn't, and it could have used a jalapeno or something to give it more kick.

I just let it simmer away until the potatoes were cooked and got the spaghetti (well, whole wheat spaghettini) ready and voila, Chili-Mac. And yes, I did cover it with a large amount of cheddar cheese - hey, I never said I was vegan! The cinnamon and allspice gave it a nice warm spiciness. A filling and hearty winter weeknight meal.