I like chili. And it is chili season. I did three experiments in today’s batch.
I didn’t grow up eating chili (or beans really). And chili was my gateway into trying them more.
The experiments:
– up my bean to meat ratio. Not only is this more med friendly, this aligns to my goal of eating more beans
– pressure cook beans and finish in the oven
– use my new chilies in my chili. I recently purchased several kinds of new to me varietals from Diaspora. I usually just use chili powder and add whatever else I have. I do not remember all the kinds of chili I used. But I blended up ground cumin, coriander, medical oregano, garlic powder, and 7-8 chili powders and a whole chili. And smoked paprika.
The pressure cooker portion was a waste since I soaked my beans first. More split in that process. But that lead to a a creamier texture in the bowl.
The meat to bean ratio was around 1 pound of meat to around 2.5 cups of beans and lentils. I used green lentils and 4-5 kinds of beans, as I had small amounts left of various bags of Rancho Gordo beans. In some ways it is sacrilegious to mix heirloom beans. But the varied textures and tastes are nice in the bowl.
The blend of chilis turned out great. A really rich taste.
And the finishing in the oven. In my Dutch oven meant a heartier texture. That doesn’t happen in my instant pot. Next time I’ll soak the beans. Skip the pre-cook. And do the whole thing in the oven.
I used mostly olive oil. But a teaspoon of rendered bacon fat to the beans for flavor. And sautéed the onions and spices for the base in EVOO.
To make it more med friendly you could always sub ground turkey. But there isn’t much meat in the final dish. And I always need the iron boost.
This was a great fall dinner. I also had a salad of arugula on the side as a 1st course while waiting for the squash.
The squash was roasted with evoo, salt, cumin, garlic powder, and Aleppo pepper flakes to add savoriness to the sweet squash.
by PlantedinCA