Annie The story of this pot of chili began all the way back in March. Just after the snow melted and the soil was workable in our FIO garden raised beds, we planted a cover crop—AKA “green manure”—that was full of all kinds of clovers, flax, fenugreek, legumes, and more.
Field peas were one of these crops. And although most of the cover crops withered away as intended by planting time in May, some of the field peas held on and continued to grow, filling in the areas around the tomatoes. And because we’re free-spirited, live-and-let-live gardeners, we let ‘em grow. And they went NUTS. They overtook a few of the tomato plants and sent runners ALL OVER.
Needless to say, we probably won’t let these things grow willy-nilly like that again… but we did have quite the harvest of field peas this November, just in time for chili weather. Field peas taste similar to black-eyed peas, with a grassy, slightly vegetal flavor. They are ready to harvest when the pods are almost all dried and begin to split. Then comes the shelling. Our advice: get your fam to help out—especially the kiddos.
We cooked the beans in the Instant Pot, then used them in our best-ever chili recipe. We also tossed in a bit of chopped butternut squash to boost that autumnal deliciousness. Use this basic recipe whenever you need a pot of comforting chili in a jiff—it can be on your table in LESS THAN 1 HOUR!
How to Cook Beans in Your Instant Pot: For soaked beans, cook on high pressure 15 to 20 minutes, depending on size. Cook unsoaked beans on high pressure 30 to 40 minutes, depending on size. Release pressure naturally.
Best-Ever 1-Hour Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped and/or 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded (if desired) and finely chopped
- 1 tsp. salt
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 3 Tbsp. chili powder (Frontier brand is our fave)
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 2 tsp. ground coriander
- 1 qt. canned tomatoes or one 28-oz. can whole tomatoes, broken into pieces or chopped
- 2 15-oz. cans dark red kidney beans, cannellini beans, black beans, and/or other desired beans rinsed and drained (or 3 cups cooked dried beans)
- 2 to 4 cups water
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Toppers, such as cilantro, cheddar, avocado, red onion, sour cream, lime wedges, oyster crackers, etc.
Instructions
- In a large pot cook ground beef over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned. Add onion, bell pepper, and poblano and/or jalapeño peppers. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until onion and peppers are softened.Add garlic; cook and stir 1 minute. Add tomato paste, 2 Tbsp. chili powder, cumin, and coriander; cook and stir 1 minute.
- Stir in tomatoes, beans, and 2 cups water. Bring to boiling.Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring in additional water as needed if mixture gets too thick. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1Tbsp. chili powder. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve with desired toppers.
