Pinquito Bean Chili
Who doesn’t love a good chili? Earlier this week I was in Sun Valley with some girlfriends. We stopped midway through our ski day for some lunch at the lodge. Everyone ordered the chili but me.
I only eat legumes if they’ve been presoaked and pressure cooked. For obvious reasons, that means I only get to eat legumes when I make them. If you’ll allow me to be a little crude, my discretion in eating beans was validated later that day when everyone’s tummies were bubbling and uncomfortable.
However, none of that will happen to you or your loved ones when you make your beans according to my instructions. Presoaking and pressure cooking is necessary to remove the lectins and phytates that cause inflammation and discomfort. Once you remove those, your gut will be able to absorb all the wonderful nutrients of these beans, and your bedmate won’t be repelled by you. ;)
I highly recommend giving yourself two days of lead time for this recipe: one day for soaking your beans and another day to let it sit in the refrigerator and allow the flavors to come together even more. But if you make it the day of, it’ll still be great.
1 cup dry pinquito or pinto beans
1 cup dry black beans
2 T avocado oil or ghee or EVOO
1 white or yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1.5 lbs ground pastured meat of choice (I use bison) optional
2 T dried oregano
2 T cumin powder
2 t garlic powder
1 t freshly ground pepper
2 t paprika
1/2 t berbere (see note below for substitution)* optional
1 t celery seed
1 T chili powder
3 T kosher salt
2 dried Anaheim or California chilies, seeded and stems removed
28 oz can peel San Marzano tomatoes
28 oz water
2 T apple cider vinegar
Soak beans at least 6 hours but preferably 24-48. Rinse and change water several times during soaking time.
Set pressure cooker to the saute function. Warm up oil. Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute until soft but not carmelized. Add bell peppers and ground meat. Stir it around and allow the meat to brown. Turn off saute function.
Add remaining ingredients to pressure cooker and stir to distribute them evenly. Put the lid on your pressure cooker with the nozzle closed. Set cook time to 40 minutes at high pressure. Allow for slow release when finished. Slow release means you will have to allow the pressure to slowly dissipate before opening the lid. So account for an additional 30-40 minutes once pressure cooking has completed before you can open the lid. If you open the lid prematurely through quick release, the beans will not be completely cooked yet.
I often cook the chili the night before my party and then leave it in the pot with the lid sealed and on warm all through the night and the next day. The flavors get more intense and delicious.
Serve with toppings of shredded cabbage, New Zealand cheddar, cilantro, and red onions. It’ll be a hit!
Serves 10. Cook time: 1.5 hours.
*Berbere is a spice blend used Ethiopian cooking. You can find it at Whole Foods. You can use coriander or curry as a substitute. They have many of the same floral notes.
