A warming winter hot pot full of bright organic veg, hearty red beans, fiery fresh chillies and a few good dashes of Mexican spice.
1. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into chunks around 2cm across. Trim the dry ends off the celery and finely slice it. Peel and grate or crush the garlic. Halve the chillies and scrape out the seeds and white pith. Finely chop them (see out tip below about keeping things spicy).
2. Crumble the stock cube into a heatproof jug. Add 1 ltr boiling water and stir to dissolve. Drain the kidney beans into a colander and rinse under cold water.
3. Warm a large pan over a medium heat for 2 mins. Add 2 tbsp oil, the garlic, chillies and 2 tsp each cumin, coriander and paprika. Cook and stir for 1 min. Add the sweet potatoes, celery and kidney beans. Pour in the vegetable stock. Add the chopped tomatoes.
4. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Give it a good stir, cover and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 20 mins, stirring now and then, till the sweet potatoes are tender when pressed with a fork.
5. Taste the hot pot and add a little more salt and pepper if you think it needs it. Ladle into warm bowls and serve straight away.
6. TIP: Cool the hot pot, divide into smaller portions and store in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost and reheat thoroughly before eating.
7. TIP: This hot pot contains two chillies and smoked paprika - both help to make it nice and spicy. If you prefer a milder hot pot, leave out the chillies, but keep in the smoked paprika as that adds lots of lovely smoky flavours as well as heat. For a medium-spiced hot pot, scrape the seeds and white pith out of the chillies, as that is where the heat comes from in chillies. And for a really hot pot, leave the seeds and white pith in the chillies.