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Tasty Bite!
An edible fall flower, Hollyhock, with stamen removed and filled with: Saffron Risotto, Butternut Squash, topped with Sprouted Black Lentils and Micro Leeks

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Vegetarian Garbonzo Bean Chili


Vegetarian Garbonzo Bean Chili

How to sprout garbonzos:

Cover dried beans with clean source water, no salt. Leave at room temperature overnight. Drain and add fresh water in the morning. Repeat until plump with a small white "tails". This may take 2 or 3 days. You may refrigerate to slow down the process or put near a heat vent, fireplace or radiator to speed up the process. When sprouted, wash with cool salt water and then cool clean water, drain. Add to a large pot with an ample amount of clean-source water with aromatics such as bay leaves, thyme bundles, garlic cloves, onion skins or herb stems. Do not salt again until beans are fully cooked. (About 40 minutes) Note: sprouted beans take less time to cook than dried beans. Reserve cooking liquid. The gelatinous "broth" made by garbonzo beans is one of the secrets to great hummus and chili! Refrigerate until ready to use.

Tip: Adding a piece of living sea weed to the soaking water makes for faster more nutritious sprouts. One 4" piece per gallon of water. Discard or add it to a house plant for food before cooking. you might even offer it as a treat to a house pet. some animals LOVE sea veggies. We love them too. But, we eat them dried in the dehydrator BEFORE they have been feeding the beans. (Mineral-rich Super-food!) Be sure to use ONLY hand-harvested, aboriginal, seasonally-collected, organic sea veggies. Our all-time fav is Mendocino Sea Palm Fronds. We did A LOT of research on this. We buy ours from Barbara and John Stephens-Lewallen atwww.seaweed.net. Let them know we sent you! They love St. Joe! Our sea vegetable purchases are growing in frequency and we are assisting them in their fight against corporate encroachment of ancient harvesting waters! Be healthy and be an activist, at the same time: buy hand-harvested sea weed.

How to make home-made chili sauce

1 gal bag of frozen tomatoes from the fall harvest (or 4 one-quart cans)

2 to 3 large onions, diced

5 to 10 garlic gloves, crushed

3 to 5 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil (diced)

6 to 10 drops of wild oregano oil (optional)

5 to 7 small dried whole chillies, 1 tsp each: whole cumin seeds, whole mixed gourmet smokey pepper corns, coriander seeds and dried oregano (if not using the oil)

1/2 tsp course ground Himalayan pink salt or living sea salt

Smokey paprika to taste

Add onions, tomatoes, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes to a crock pot or dutch oven. Cook on high to reduce liquid. while reducing, add dried whole spices and salt to spice mill or grinder and grind until fine. Add spice mixture to sauce, turn to low and simmer to desired consistency. Adjust seasoning, adding smokey paprika to taste and more salt and cumin as needed. Add meats, beans and other vegetables as desired to make chili or pot roast. Garbonzo beans can be added for thickening agent, but be careful not to overcook the garbonzos. They only need to be hated through in the warm chili sauce.

Gourmet Smokey Pepper Corns, Garbonzo Beans and Smokey Paprika are available for a limited time from Goode Acres Delivery. All other seasoning are available in the bulk section at A-Z Fresh Air Fare on 8th Street, down town Saint Joe.