A Blue Zone Worthy Recipe: Guy Raz's Vegan Chili

NPR | By NPR/TED Staff

Published June 15, 2015 at 10:10 AM PDT

In our episode, The Fountain Of Youth, we talked with author Dan Buettner, who studies Blue Zones, communities whose elders live longer than anyone else. Buettner said a staple of every longevity diet in the world is beans. Host Guy Raz mentioned he makes a great vegan chili — which is full of life-sustaining legumes. Lots of listeners wrote to ask if they could get Guy's vegan chili recipe. So by popular demand, here it is!

Ingredients

4 cups dried beans, about a handful each of: black beans, navy beans, chickpeas, pinto beans, kidney or cranberry beans

1 cup onion, finely diced

1 cup carrot, finely diced

1 cup celery, finely diced

1-2 cups raw beets, cubed (optional)

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

4-6 cups vegetable stock (preferably homemade—see recipe below)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tube of Soy Chorizo (available at Trader Joe's, Walmart and elsewhere)

1 24 ounce jar strained tomatoes

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 - 2 tablespoons chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

2-10 dashes of Melinda's Habanero Hot Sauce (optional)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:

Rinse the beans and soak in water overnight (water should cover all the beans by at least two inches.)

Drain beans.

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven set over medium heat.

Add onions and stir occasionally until translucent, about four minutes.

Add garlic and stir for about a minute.

Add carrots and celery and sauteé for another four minutes, stirring occasionally and without letting the onions burn or caramelize.

Add cubed beets (if using) and sauté another two minutes.

Add salt and pepper.

Add the soaked, drained beans and mix well with vegetables for about a minute.

Add tomato paste and stir in well.

Add soy chorizo and mix in making sure it is well integrated into vegetable/bean mixture.

Add strained tomatoes, then vegetable stock to about an inch below rim of the pot.

Stir for about a minute then add smoked paprika and chili powder.

Turn heat up to high and bring mixture to a boil. Once it begins to bubble nicely, turn heat to low, cover pot and simmer for about 45 minutes.

When the beans are cooked but still firm (test it regularly to avoid mushy beans) turn off heat.

Add Melinda's hot sauce (if you like it spicy) and adjust salt and pepper, as needed.

Let the whole mixture cool down, covered (I keep it on the stove top overnight to let it cool). It is now ready to eat or freeze!

Guy's Homemade Veggie Stock:

This is easy. Take a few roughly chopped celery ribs, a bay leaf or two, 1-2 roughly chopped onions (include peel and roots), a few unpeeled garlic cloves, a few roughly chopped carrots, whole pepper corns and salt. Add it all to a tall soup pot, fill it up with water, bring the whole thing to just below a boil and then let it simmer lightly for about two to three hours (or longer if you have the patience) keeping an eye on water evaporation. Freeze whatever is left in ice cube trays.