Bean and Quinoa Chili (Chili Sin Carne)

I don’t know what it is with my desire to cook chili 11ty different ways this month, but this was another one of those “clean out the pantry” adventures that turned out much better than I expected it would.  I’ve been on a quinoa kick again lately, so this was a very flavourful way to utilize it.  I wrote the recipe with a bit of heat, so if you’re not a huge fan of spice, I would tone down the use of chilies and jalepenos. 

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup quinoa
• 1 and 1/3 cups chicken stock
• olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced 
• 2 ancho chili peppers, deseeded, deveined, and diced
• 2-4 jalapenos, deseeded, deveined, and diced
• 1 Tbsp ground chipotle chilis
• 2 Tbsp cayenne pepper
• 1 Tsp  cumin
• 1 Tsp coriander
• 1 Tsp dried oregeno
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can refried beans
• 1 cup corn
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato paste
• more good quality chicken stock

Directions:

Heat the quinoa with 1 and 1/3 cups chicken stock in a saucepan over medium heat.  When the stock begins to boil, stir, cover and reduce heat to low for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender.

Saute the onion in a heavy Dutch oven and in some of the olive oil until the onions are starting to get tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for another couple of minutes.  Add the chili peppers, jalapeno, and the spices, and cook for another 5-7 minutes on medium heat.  Scoot as much of the onion mixture as possible to one side of the dutch oven.

Caramelize the tomato paste on the other side of the dutch oven, slowly integrating the tomato paste into the rest of the dish.   Add the refried beans and black beans, tomatoes, corn, and enough chicken stock to give it your desired consistency.   I liked mine quite thick, so I only added 1 cup of stock.  Simmer together for 15 minutes. 

Combine the quinoa with the rest of the ingredients, season to taste with sea salt and ground black pepper, and warm through. 

Serve with a bit of sour cream or guacamole, or a nice roasted chicken thigh. 

Enjoy!