Tips and Advice - Cooking from Scratch

The word chilli brings to mind the simple ingredients of ground beef and kidney beans but this simple and hearty recipe has evolved over the years to include the unexpected. Here is an updated meatless version of an old favourite with lots of vitamins, flavour and texture. Serve it up with a whole wheat role or biscuit and a serving of your favourite fruit.

With the cold nights sneaking up on us there is nothing more satisfying than a spicy bowl of chilli to warm the insides.

Black Bean Chili

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil
2 cups onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 a butternut squash, peeled/chopped
2 tbsp chilli powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cups green chard, chopped

Directions:

Saute the onions and garlic in the oil for about eight minutes.

While onions are cooking slice the butternut squash lengthwise down the middle and scoop out the innards for compost -- I find the easiest way to peel it is to slice the half I'm using for the chilli into about eight long slices. Then peel each of those separately. The hard skin of the squash makes it too hard to peel it as one piece. Chop the slices of squash into 1/2" pieces and add to onions. Let the squash absorb some of the onion flavour for a few minutes or more. Generally, I slice up and peel the other half of the squash and store it in an air tight container for use later in the week as a side dish or if it is exceptionally large, soup.

Sprinkle the chilli powder and cumin over the squash and onions, stir until blended. Add the rinsed and drained black beans followed by the broth and the tomatoes (don't drain tomatoes). Bring to boil.

Reduce the temperature and let chilli simmer uncovered until squash is tender. Depending on how firm the squash is this can take anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes.

If you have family members who would object to having greens in their chilli you can serve the chilli at this point or you can chop up three cups of green swiss chard being sure to remove the bitter white center vein before chopping and add these incredibly nutritious greens to the chilli. Let cook until soft but not until it disintegrates.

This black bean chilli recipe makes about eight to ten large bowls of chilli. It freezes and reheats really well in individual size containers.

Photo of squash , copyright M. E. Wood

M. E. Wood lives in Eastern Ontario, Canada. If you are going to find this eclectic reader and writer anywhere it is probably at her computer. For more information visit her Squidoo Who page.

More on Cooking From Scratch

• Black Bean Lasagna
• Irish Soda Bread
• Butternut Squash Soup