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3 Beans for chili, anasazi beans, pinto beans and turtle beans

Easy Three Bean Chili: A Cheap and Cheerful Party Favorite

This three-bean chili is easy to make, but has a long cooking time. The same simple ingredients are added multiple times to achieve a complex flavor profile that has had dedicated meat-eaters convinced they tasted beef. Part of the secret is the long (24 hours) cooking time, part of the secret is the relatively large amount of olive oil that substitutes for the missing beef fat.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 12 hours
Total Time 12 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 12
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Stage One Ingredients
  • 1 Lb Red Beans
  • 1 Lb Turtle Beans
  • 1 Lb Pink Beans
  • 2 Cloves Garlic Peeled
  • 1 Large Onion Chopped
  • 2 Dried Chilies
  • Salt To taste
Stage Two & Three Ingredients
  • 2 Sprigs Dried Oregano
  • 1/2 Bundle Coriander Finely Chopped
  • 1 Bulb Garlic Peeled and Minced
  • 1-2 Large Vidalia Onion Chopped
  • 3-4 Fresh Chilies Various types, choose from: Banana, Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, Jalapeno and Mulatos
  • 3/4 Cup Olive Oil
  • 1 Tsp Cumin Seeds Crushed
  • 2 26oz Tinned Whole Tomatoes Roughly chopped (put a knife into the jar and stir it a bit)

Method
 

Stage One
  1. Assemble all of the first ingredient group in a roasting pan, cover and cook overnight.
Stage Two
  1. Heat a heavy large frying pan with half the oil.
  2. Cook half of the onion, peppers and garlic with the cumin, until the onions and garlic are fragrant.
  3. Add this mixture to the beans along with half of the tomatoes, cover, and cook for 4-6 hours.
  4. One hour before serving the chili, put the second half of the oil, onion, peppers and garlic.into a large frying pan and again, cook until they are fragrant.
  5. Add this mixture to the chili with the rest of the tomatoes.
  6. Cover and cook for the final hour.
  7. Serve, or cool and freeze in small portions for later use.