Monkey & Me Three Bean Chili

I make this A LOT. It’s delicious, easy, and it’s popular at work with my non-WFPB friends. For this post, I have omitted the optional/topping ingredients that are not JS compliant, but you can find those tidbits at the Monkey & Me Kitchen Adventures site.

I accidentally ate almost all of it before remembering to take a photo, so sorry that it’s a less-than appetizing close up of my last two bites. : ) However, the photo from Monkey & Me features non-JS-appropriate ingredients.


Ingredients:

1 cup red onion, small dice

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded, small dice

½ red bell pepper, small dice

½ green bell pepper, small dice

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

1 – 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 – 14.5 can petite diced tomatoes

½ cup vegetable broth *

2 cups water (or broth)

1 – 15.5 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 – 15.5 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

½ cup dried small brown lentils, (or green) picked through and rinsed, and already cooked

Spice/Herb Ingredients:

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 Tablespoons dried minced onion flakes

2 Tablespoons + ½ teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon sweet paprika

¼ teaspoon chipotle powder (+/-)

1 ½ teaspoons cumin (+/-)

¼ teaspoon coriander (+/-)

1 ½ teaspoons sea salt (+/-) *

¼ teaspoon black pepper (+/-)

Other Ingredients

½ teaspoon liquid smoke

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar


Stove Top Instructions (website has Instant Pot instrux)

  1. Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.

  2. In a large ceramic/enamel-lined Dutch oven, skillet or similar stock pot, add the diced red onions, jalapeno peppers, and bell peppers; sauté over medium heat until they soften, approximately 7 to 9 minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of water if they start to stick and/or to prevent burning.  Then add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.

  3. Add the tomato paste and Herb/Spice Ingredients and sauté for one minute to release their fragrance. Then add all the remaining ingredients (lentils should be pre-cooked if using dry lentils – see notes), except the liquid smoke, apple cider vinegar and masa harina. Stir well to incorporate.

  4. Place the lid on the chili pot and simmer for 25 minutes.

  5. After 25 minutes, then stir in the liquid smoke & apple cider vinegar. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, taste test the flavors, ramp up any spices as needed before serving.  This allows the temperature level to drop and the flavors to marry.