Thursday, 29 January 2009

Black Bean Chili Recipe

Black Bean Vegetarian Chili

Following my review of the book on nutrition for endurance athletes, I feel that the time has come again to provide something spicy from my recipe box.

From the still-defunct and much-mourned Bicycle Guide magazine comes one of my favourite recipes. Incredibly easy to make, filling and tasty, this is a dish that gets me through winter and provides lots of protein and carbohydrates with very little fat. Of course, Texans will tell you that it can't actually be chili since a) it has beans and b) it has no beef in it. Ignore this and do not mention the carrots.

In addition to just eating the chili by itself or with some cornbread, I also use it for making huevos rancheros by wrapping a poached egg, some salsa, a bit of avocado and the chili into a tortilla.

After years of making the chili the traditional way, I have fairly recently acquired a slow cooker and have discovered that this recipe is pretty well ideal for the slow cooker as well. On a "high" setting it takes about 5 hours max!

Ingredients:

* ½ cup coarsely chopped onion
* 4 garlic cloves
* 1 red bell pepper, chopped
* 1 small jalapeño pepper, chopped
* 1 tablespoon oil
* 1 28 oz. can chopped or diced tomatoes with liquid
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 5 tablespoons chili powder
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* pinch of salt
* 3 medium carrots, sliced
* 1 can corn kernels, drained
* 2 cups cooked black beans, or 1 cup cooked black beans and 1 cup cooked kidney beans
*chopped cilantro for garnish

Usual method:

Saute the onion, peppers and garlic in oil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until softened.
Stir in tomatoes and their liquid, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt
Cook for 4 minutes, medium heat
Add carrots, cook 3 minutes longer
Add corn, and mix in black beans
Reduce heat, cover pan and simmer for 10 minutes
Add chopped cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Slow cooker version:

You can use uncooked beans for this. Just dump everything into the slow cooker except the cilantro, add 1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock, set on "high," and come back 5 hours later. You will want to stir it a few times in between, though. Then just garnish it with the cilantro.

Makes 6 servings and improves after a day or two. It also freezes very well.

Please note that I like a lot of chili powder and cayenne pepper. Together with the jalapeño this might be a bit strong for some, so be judicious with these ingredients.

Nutritional Information:

Total calories: 278 Kcal
Fat: 2.5 g
Carbohydrates: 51.2 g
Dietary Fibre: 17.3 g
Protein: 16.2 g

3 comments:

Lily on the Road said...

Thank YOU so much!! A veggie Black Bean Chili Recipe, Yuummmyyy,

BTW, Rideau Lakes Bike Tour registration is now open....I'm in, I'll be sending my registration in tomorrow!

Groover said...

That looks so yummy and I was delighted to see that it is Vegetarian, too. It will be on our menu shortly!

Donald said...

Looks awesome! We will certainly give this a try.