Vegetarian Chili

Ah, beans. So important for beautiful skin and a healthy cardiovascular system. By helping the body produce nitric oxide, they cause the muscles around the blood vessels to relax and the blood vessels themselves to become larger, which increases blood flow to all the organs of the body. Vegetables and berries aid the body’s production of nitric oxide as well. Hence, today’s post, which is all beans and vegetables, in a delicious winter meal perfect for a day of shoveling snow.

To start with, I’ll help you cook your own beans. These days, dried beans don’t need to be soaked overnight before cooking, so you can start them off immediately after picking them over and rinsing.

Even though I haven’t done the math including the water and electricity used, cooking dried beans yourself instead of buying canned has to be a money-saver. At my Stop n Shop, a can of organic beans, which is about a quarter-pound’s worth of dried, is around $2. Yet, several pounds of dried beans only costs $3 - $4 which is a huge savings on the beans alone. That, and by cooking them with a piece of Kombu seaweed and freezing the unused portions immediately, you can dramatically reduce the possibility of suffering from painful flatulence after eating them.

Yes, seaweed is this miraculous substance that leeches impurities from the skin in face masks, helps gushing finger cuts to stop bleeding in minutes or even seconds, and happens to also cause beans to be safer to eat (when you need to be on your best behavior!).

Basic Recipe for Kidney Beans in the Slow Cooker

1 lb. dried beans, picked over and rinsed

1 large yellow or white onion, quartered

2 bay leaves

1 4”-long piece of Kombu seaweed

2 garlic cloves, crushed (optional)

Place all ingredients into a 5 to 6-quart crock pot and cover with filtered water by 2 inches. Cook on high for 8 hours, up to 12 hours if necessary. Freeze unused beans immediately. To freeze in one-can portion sizes, Fill a 2-cup measuring cup to 1½ cups of beans, and then add just enough of the cooking liquid to reach the top of the beans.

Vegetarian Chili

Adapted from The Frog/Commissary Cookbook

2 Jalapeno peppers

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup chopped carrots

2 cups diced white onions

1 cup chopped green peppers

¾ cup chopped organic celery

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 cups mushrooms, rinsed, dried and chopped

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon ground cumin

¾ teaspoon dried basil

¾ teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 ½ cup Pomi Strained Tomatoes

½ cup filtered water

2 14-oz. cans organic diced tomatoes with juice

2 cups undrained kidney beans (from 1 20-oz. can or homemade)

½ teaspoon Tabasco

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup dry red or white wine

Optional: ½ cup quinoa (we omit this step and serve with cornbread muffins, the recipe follows below)

Roast jalapeno peppers over fire or under broiler until black, turning as necessary, until done. While the peppers are blackening, assemble all the rest of the ingredients.

When Jalapeno peppers are completely black, place in a paper bag and fold over top, or into a bowl sealed with plastic wrap. Leave peppers for 20 minutes as you continue to assemble the rest of the ingredients.

When all the ingredients are ready to go, scrape the blackened skins off of the Jalapenos. Slice them into quarters the long way, and then chop. Keep to the side.

In a 6- or 7-quart dutch oven, heat the olive oil. Over high heat, add the onions, celery, green peppers, carrots, garlic, mushrooms, spices, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered. If too thick, the chili can be thinned with tomato juice.

If you don’t add quinoa to the pot, serve with corn chips or corn bread to make a complete protein with the kidney beans.

Corn Bread Muffins

From the Bon Appetit, Y’all cookbook

Makes one dozen muffins

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups fine corn flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 cups buttermilk (or homemade plain yogurt)

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 425F. Grease muffin tin. Mix together cornmeal, baking soda and salt. Separately, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Melt the butter as you mix together the wet ingredients into the dry. Add the melted butter and mix well. Spoon the batter into the tins, filling each 2/3 full. Bake 25 minutes, or until skewer comes out clean.

These are dense and flat-topped. To get a rounder muffin top, heat oven to 450F and turn down to 425F when you put the batter into the oven.

Either way, I recommend breaking them into pieces over the chili as you enjoy.

This meal is great with a salad. We make a creamy dressing using Penzey’s Creamy Peppercorn seasoning, using the recipe right on the jar.