Thursday, March 29, 2012

Best 3-Bean Chili


In our quest to incorporate more beans into our diets we have branched out and looked for some different recipes for chili. This is one of our favorites. Our little four year old says, "Mom, this is lishous." I think that definitely describes it. We especially love the addition of Cinnamon.


1 to 2 pounds lean ground beef
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 (16 oz.) cans Dark Red Kidney Beans
2 (16 oz.) cans Pinto Beans
2 (16 oz.) cans Black Beans
1 (14.5 oz.) can Diced Tomatoes
1 & 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/2 tsp. Ground Pepper
1/2 tsp. Cumin
Cinnamon, to taste - I usually put in 1 tsp.
Sour Cream

Brown ground beef in a heavy dutch oven or soup pot. Add chili powder and mix well. Add onion and pepper to meat and cook for 2 minutes. Drain off excess grease. Stir in remaining ingredients except for sour cream. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Top with sour cream.  This recipe comes from  www.recipes.bushbeans.com.

Of course, it is always cheaper to use dry beans over canned beans. If you use canned beans, don't drain them. If you use dry beans that you cook in a pressure cooker or stock pot make sure and use some or all of your cooking liquid in your chili. The liquid in the beans makes a nice thick and rich gravy in your chili.  For an even thicker chili you can add 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste. This recipe would also be a great vegan recipe, just leave out the ground beef.  For tips on cooking dry beans: http://www.ourprovidentlife.blogspot.com/2012/02/bean-cookin-101.html

1 comment:

Shaun-ta' said...

Hey ya'll! I just wanted to let you know that I made this recipe in my crock pot last week and it worked great. I rinsed and sorted my beans and soaked them in my crockpot overnight. Don't drain your soaking liquid in the morning, just turn the crockpot on, add your browned ground beef and the other ingredients and let it cook until your beans are done. On high it takes about 3 to 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. You can just add a little water or beef stock to achieve your desired thickness. I just put in enough to make sure my beans were covered, because we like our chili thick!