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hearty bowl of black bean chili

Black Bean Chili

Dawn Dobie
Vegetarian chili with fire-roasted flavor
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 3 hours
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

For the beans

  • 1 lb. dried black beans

For the onion-tomato base

  • 2 Tbsp. dried cumin seeds
  • 2 Tbsp. dried oregano
  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 ½ large brown onions chopped
  • 1 large green bell pepper chopped
  • 1 jalapeno pepper minced
  • 9 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp. chile de arbol powder
  • 4 tsp. paprika
  • 4 ounces fire-roasted green chiles (I used mild)
  • 1 14.5 ounce can fire-roased diced tomatoes --drained
  • 1 28 ounce can peeled crushed tomatoes or tomato puree

Garnish

  • 1 red bell pepper
  • Cilantro optional
  • Sour cream optional
  • Avocado optional
  • Grated cheese or goat cheese optional

Instructions
 

For the beans

  • The night before cooking, prepare the beans. Pick over them to remove small rocks, blemished beans, etc. Rinse in a colander and then transfer to a large bowl. Cover with water by 2 inches. Let soak overnight.
  • Drain beans. Place in large pot or slow cooker and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Cover and cook over low heat until beans are tender but not mushy, about 2 hours.

For the flavor base

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place cumin seeds and oregano in small baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes, stirring twice. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
  • Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped onions and sauté for 5 mintues, stirring often. Add chopped green bell pepper and jalapeno and sauté another 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook 2 additional minutes, stirring often. Add cumin seeds and oregano, cayenne, chile de arbol powder, paprika, and salt. Cook five minutes more. Add drained fire-roasted tomatoes, peeled and crushed tomatoes, and green chiles. Stir well. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

For the garnish

  • Preheat the broiler. Roast the red bell pepper, turning so that it chars on all sides. When sufficiently blackened, transfer to paper bag, seal the bag, and allow pepper to steam for 10 minutes. Remove from bag. Peel skin off of pepper. Remove seeds and membranes. Cut in ½ inch pieces. Reserve.

Putting it together

  • Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Add the beans to the flavor base and stir to incorporate. Add at least one cup of cooking liquid, but more according to the consistency you want your chili to have. Simmer for 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Serve warm

To serve

  • Top servings of chili with roasted red bell pepper. Offer cilantro, avocado, cheese and sour cream on the side, if desired.

Notes

As a time-saver, you could easily use canned black beans for this recipe. But cooking dried beans—especially in a slow cooker—is easy and a money saver.
The components of this dish can be made two days ahead of time. Store the beans separate from their cooking liquid; store the flavor base on its own. All components should be covered and refrigerated.
The recipe in Bon Appétit said that the chili freezes well.
Adapted from Margaret Fox of Cafe Beaujolais (Bon Appétit Feb 1986)