Sunday, January 30, 2011

Anasazi (Fava Bean) Chili with Quinoa

A timely post! Tonight, I made a different kind of chili...

Recipe Source: Vegan Planet: 400 Irresistible Recipes with Fantastic Flavors from Home and Around the World by Robin Robertson
    "Anasazi Chili with Quinoa" - page 320

I didn't have anasazi beans, or either of the alternatives it suggested - pinto or kidney, which was weird - usually, I have loads of black, pinto, and kidney beans. Guess I need to go to the grocery with a list!! I decided to go with fava beans, though. Go figure, I have a somewhat more obscure bean... A few pages back in this cookbook, it said that fava beans are meaty, and this recipe said that anasazi is a "sweet, meaty bean." Close enough, right?
I also didn't have the small red bell pepper it called for, so I used a can of chopped mild green chilies.

This is a relatively standard chili - some chopped onion cooked until soft in olive oil, add the spices (chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt), add chopped/diced tomatoes, beans, and water, let simmer for a bit. I used a can of no-salt-added diced tomatoes and a can of fava beans. I don't think I gave it the full 30min of simmer time it called for, but it seems to have been long enough - probably closer to 10-15min. Serve over cooked quinoa. I made a half recipe, and that seems to have been a good amount of food for 2.

It seems to have turned out pretty well - a bit spicy, but that seems to be a common theme with Robin Robertson's cookbooks - her chilies have a nice kick to them - not a bad thing at all! My brother liked it too! I like the combination of quinoa and the chili - much better than rice. And the fava beans became very tender with cooking. This is definitely a recipe to repeat!

Here are pictures --
Starting to simmer...

Ready to eat. You can't really see it, but there's quinoa underneath...

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