knitting a life

Another favorite meal at our house is a nice hot, spicy bowl of vegetarian chili.  This year we have the good fortune to have fresh dried Tarbais beans from our much-loved local Viridian Farms to add to the mix.

These beans are lovely even uncooked!

Before leaving for work the other day I put the beans in a pot, covered them with a generous amount of water, and left them to soak.  When I got home the beans had expanded nicely.  I rinsed them, added more water and simmered them over medium heat for about 30 minutes.  By then they were soft and creamy.

While the beans were cooking I chopped an onion, some heirloom carrots, and a lot of garlic.  I tossed it all into a big pot with a few tablespoons of olive oil and sauteed the mixture until the onions began to soften.  I added my favorite Penzey’s Chili Powder,

a small can of fire roasted tomatoes and some water.  Once that was all heated nicely I dumped in the beans and let the chili simmer for about 45 minutes (or until S got home from work — this is a very forgiving recipe when it comes to how long it can bubble away, you can just keep adding water if it gets too thick).  At the last minute I added some slices of Field Roast smoked apple sage vegetarian sausage and salt and pepper to taste.

As we got ready to eat, I tossed some organic romaine lettuce with apples, toasted pecans and a simple buttermilk dressing

and dished the chili into big bowls.

The verdict?  A perfect early fall meal.