Best! Black! Bean! Chili! Ever! (And it’s vegetarian!)
Daniel | May 13, 2008
This has got to be one of the best, tastiest and easiest recipes I’ve had in a long time.
1 pound dry black beans
1 Pound carrots
6 Stalks celery
1 green pepper
1 medium onion
6 roma tomatoes (medium size)
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
Pepper and season salt to taste
Sort through the dry beans and remove any bad ones, pebbles and anything else that you don’t think looks all that edible. Dump beans into a large bowl (take time to enjoy the sound they make being poured!) and cover with water. They’re going to swell up as they soak, so make sure you have maybe 4-5 inches of water covering them. Go to bed and let soak overnight. In the morning, dump the water from the bean and rinse them with fresh water - it’s said that this cuts down on the “magical” part of the bean.
Dump the beans into a crock pot and cover with water - you want about 1/4 inch of water covering them. Mix in the garlic (I recommend fresh, although powdered would work OK too) and other spices. Stir well.
Now the fun part - dice all the veggies. Be sure to wash them first. I use a scrub brush on the carrots so I can leave the skin on them. Leave the leafy part on 3 of the stalks of celery when you chop it up, and remove the leafy part from the other 3 stalks.
Mix the vegetables in with the beans, set the crock pot to low and let simmer all day long, stirring occasionally. When the beans are tender, it’s done!
Serve over whole grain brown rice if you’re being frugal, or over a mix of whole grain brown and wild rice if you’re being adventurous. Also goes well with a slice of home made bread. I also like to shake some “Red Hot” sauce over this.
Enjoy!
You can probably get 10 or so servings out of this - it’s easily enough for 2 dinners (and it freezes well) for a family of 4-5. I’m a single guy living in a house where no one else eats beans, so I freeze half of this, and then get probably 6 meals during the week out of the other half.
if i may ask - which black bean are you
shelvia | May 19, 2008 | 11:41 pmif i may ask - which black bean are you referring to please?
thanks!
Whole grain brown rice with wild rice is for the
Garrett | May 20, 2008 | 10:16 amWhole grain brown rice with wild rice is for the adventurous now?
@ Shelvia: I use just the basic black beans.
Daniel | May 20, 2008 | 1:55 pm@ Shelvia: I use just the basic black beans. I’ve also seen them called turtle beans.
@ Garrett: OK, so it’s not exactly sky diving. I did like that turn of phrase, so I kept it!
@Garrett: Yeah ... you ever try that stuff with dentures?
BillinDetroit | June 15, 2008 | 7:27 pm@Garrett: Yeah … you ever try that stuff with dentures? :-)
Looks like a good recipe, Daniel. It’s bookmarked AND printed. And given the ‘thumbs up’ on Stumble.
This is why people get discouraged with vegetarian cooking- when
Kylie | June 17, 2008 | 12:01 amThis is why people get discouraged with vegetarian cooking- when you have to soak it overnight and then cook it all day in a crockpot it just seems so much easier to pull out the fish fingers or scramble some eggs. Especially if you’re a single mother working fulltime like I am.
Could we do this with tinned beans? Pretty please?
Kylie- There are faster ways to prepare beans. You can
Amy | June 17, 2008 | 6:38 amKylie-
There are faster ways to prepare beans. You can cover them with water, bring them to a boil for ten minutes, then soak for an hour or so. Also, with a pressure cooker you can cook beans in about ten minutes. They’re not so scary when you get used to them, and the new ones have multiple safety features (pressure cookers, not beans!)
Also, dry beans are cheaper.
Let's not scare vegetarian newby's - of course you can
Katinka Hesselink | June 18, 2008 | 10:33 amLet’s not scare vegetarian newby’s - of course you can just use the canned beans. these days canned beans are just as healthy as the fresh or dried variety. Just start at the part of the recipe where it says: stir with herbs.
@ Katinka: Hey, *I* am a vegetarian newb - I
Daniel | June 18, 2008 | 10:58 am@ Katinka: Hey, *I* am a vegetarian newb - I resemble that remark! That said, there are much faster ways to prepare beans, and the canned variety work just fine in this recipe. I do it the way I do because I enjoy the ritual of soaking the beans and the smell of them cooking all day long in the slow cooker =)
My kitchen smelled so good when I left the house
Pagne | June 20, 2008 | 10:52 amMy kitchen smelled so good when I left the house I spent the entire day at work thinking about how good this was going to be. I was not disappointed. This is my new favorite vegan recipe! Do you mind if I link to it from my blog?
Also kids, do not fear the crock pot! It's actually
Pagne | June 20, 2008 | 10:55 amAlso kids, do not fear the crock pot! It’s actually easier than stovetop cooking because you just toss it all in a pot and walk away for the rest of the day. It might seem like a drawback to not have the instant gratification of eating within an hour, but the crock pot makes it nearly impossible to burn your food, plus your house smells awesome all day.
@ Pagne: I don't mind at all if you link
Daniel | June 20, 2008 | 11:01 am@ Pagne: I don’t mind at all if you link it in - I’d be flattered!
I agree with you about the crock pot - I love my crock pot. Load it up and walk away is hard to beat for “easy”. It may just be my perception, but I think cooking this kind of dish (where you have a lot of different flavors added) slowly really lets the flavors mix and compliment one another more so than if you do the “simmer for an hour” thing.
I’ll admit that the green side of me wants to try it in a pressure cooker to see if that’s a good compromise between saving energy and eating great food…
This looks delicious, I've been a vegetarian since December and
MatthewT | June 20, 2008 | 2:27 pmThis looks delicious, I’ve been a vegetarian since December and this doesn’t seem hard at all to prepare. I’ll be cooking this tomorrow, thanks!
Nice foods ;)
Aaron | June 21, 2008 | 3:51 pmNice foods ;)
@ Daniel: Ok all done! I hope you don't mind
Pagne | June 21, 2008 | 10:32 pm@ Daniel: Ok all done! I hope you don’t mind a colorful review. My adult is for mature audiences only.
link
*my blog is for mature audiences only. Sorry. I fail at
Pagne | June 21, 2008 | 10:32 pm*my blog is for mature audiences only.
Sorry. I fail at English.
looks great
Lithaine | June 24, 2008 | 11:29 amlooks great
This is also a way to make soya or the
Samaya11 | June 29, 2008 | 4:53 amThis is also a way to make soya or the Veggie meatless beef crumbles by MorningStar.
Vegetarian diet always good for health.
Rekha | June 29, 2008 | 12:09 pmVegetarian diet always good for health.
I don't seem to have a crock pot in the
John | June 29, 2008 | 1:01 pmI don’t seem to have a crock pot in the household, is there any way to make this by stove top?
I just made this and it was delicious. Only
Austin | June 29, 2008 | 5:21 pmI just made this and it was delicious. Only thing is it took about 24 hours in the crockpot on low for the beans to get soft(that’s after I soaked them in water overnight before cooking). Does my crockpot just suck? Or is there a secret to preparing dry beans?
Couple of great questions! @ John - yes, you
Daniel | June 30, 2008 | 7:40 pmCouple of great questions! @ John - yes, you can just throw it all in a big pot and simmer it until the beans get soft. @ Austin - same thing, you can crank up the crock pot a bit. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll let the crock pot cook on high for a few hours (3-4) and then turn it down to low and let it simmer another 4-5 hours or until the beans are nice and soft!
Oh my god, it's cooking in the crock pot right
Brii | July 6, 2008 | 6:47 pmOh my god, it’s cooking in the crock pot right now! I’m so excited, I cant wait to eat it!!!! =]
great stufff hmmmmmmmmmm goood ;)
Aaron | July 6, 2008 | 7:45 pmgreat stufff hmmmmmmmmmm goood ;)
The reason you have to soak the beans is because
Jaylar | July 9, 2008 | 3:55 pmThe reason you have to soak the beans is because they are toxic. One always soaks beans/peas, any
bean pea and throws away the water. Now If I were doing it, I’d buy a tin of beans, and I’d mix up my
veggies and sauce and stuff, and pop it into the microwave.