This is a recipe from Margaret Roach, a former Martha Stewart staffer and now author of “A Way to Garden.” She recommends this chili as a way to use up bits of beans you may have stocked in the freezer (she grows all kinds of beans in her New York State garden), but you can use canned beans and all the wonderful peppers from today’s box. She suggests you can also add some of your greens to the chili. Great idea!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil 2 onions, chopped 4 large cloves garlic, chopped (more if the cloves aren’t hefty) 3 Tbsp. red chili powder 1 1/2 cups cooked, drained black beans 1 1/2 cups cooked, drained pinto beans 1 1/2 cups cooked, drained garbanzo beans 4 1/2 cups quartered paste tomatoes 2 medium-size sweet peppers, chopped 1 Poblano pepper, chopped 2 or 3 medium-hot small peppers, seeds removed, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 1 cup slightly undercooked bulgur (optional; adds “tooth,” or texture, as ground beef might, but it is wheat, so not for those skipping gluten).
Preparation:
Sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil in a large “spaghetti pot,” about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder. Add the chopped peppers; sauté about 5 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and cook down. Add cooked beans, and continue to simmer, covered, about a half-hour. Add almost-cooked bulgur. (Optionally, you can add the ½ cup bulgur, uncooked, after the tomatoes release their watery juices, instead of cooking it down; the grain will use the liquid as it cooks.) Add chopped cilantro. Cook another 15 minutes. Best served after a day, when the flavors meld.