Preheat oven to 400. Rinse and dry sweet potatoes. With a fork, poke holes in each potato all around. Lay each potato on a piece of foil and brush with a few drops of olive oil. Wrap in foil tightly and bake for an hour or until potatoes are soft. This will depend on the size.

Add pepper, carrot, and onion to food processor and pulse until the vegetables are fairly small. If you don’t want to use a food processor, just chop these by hand.

Preheat dutch oven and add oil, vegetables, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and cook stirring frequently until veggies are soft – about 5-8 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Next, add beef to the pan and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 10 minutes stirring regularly, until meat is fully cooked. Add all the spices, ½ teaspoon salt, pepper, and cocoa powder and cook for 1 minute.

Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and maple syrup (optional) and simmer for 20 minutes. Once the chili has finished cooking, add cilantro.

To assemble, cut sweet potatoes in half, and place a generous amount of chili on top. You can garnish with additional cilantro and avocado.