It's chili but it's not: black bean and squash "chili"

Ok, we can get into a big, FIERCE debate here about what "chili" is. And, to be honest, I am on the side of those who view it as containing meat, spices, onions, and very little else. But as is the case with just about every "canonical" dish in the American food "library," the term is tossed about, and used in many ways. I may be wrong, but I think it's slowly (or, perhaps not so slowly) being used to define any dish that is stewed slowly, and has chili powder in it, or chilis.

Well, fine. Ok, whatever you like. Anyway, I was reading an article on how chili changes as you move across the country. There were several recipes that caught my eye, and I'll be making them in turn. This one came up first, for a few reasons. It had squash in it, and I have been on a bit of a squash run lately. I've been using it every which what way. Also, it's meat free, and I had been feeling the need to make a protein rich dish that didn't have meat in it (we've also been eating a lot of rich protein lately). And... beans. .. another recent obsession. Add the fact that there's very little work, and it just sits there and stews (sort of like Annalena, sometimes,) and you have a perfect dish for winter.

Ok, enough philosophy, let's cook. You're going to need to chop a bit of stuff: 2 big onions, and also 8 peeled garlic cloves. Now, the spices. A tablespoon of a chili powder of your choice (you can get these in so many varities it is amazing. Pick one you like. Keep in mind that we're going to be adding more chilis later, so you might want to stick to mild. I'll explain the role of each as we go along). You also need a tablespoon of ground coriander.

Now, a digression here. Annalena has just about every spice in the world on her spice table. She just picked up some new ones, that she won't use often (celery seed, fenugreek, etc). So, when she turned around to get her ground coriander, ... well, you guessed it. None there. WHOLE coriander seeds, but no ground.

I suggest that everyone get one of those cheap coffee bean grinders, and use them for spices only. That's what Annalena does (so does Martha Stewart, if you prefer a slightly different model). The other ingredients: a pound of black beans, a large can of whole tomatoes, 2 chipotle chiles from a can of them in adobo, chopped and a tablespoon of dried oregano. (If you happen to know the source, the Mexican oregano is better here, but Turkish will work fine). Later, you're going to need 3 cups of cubed squash (butternut, kabocha, hubbard, don't much matter), and a half a cup of bulghur wheat, the quick cooking kind.

Put a few tablespoons of olive oil in big pot, Heat it up and add the onions. When they've softened, add the garlic and just stir it for about a minute, and then add the spices. They are going to stick and burn a little, and that's fine. That will stop after you add the tomatoes, all at once, with their juice. You also add the beans, the chipotle chilies, and the oregano.

Let's stop here and chat about the chilies. The combination here will give you a rather spicy dish. The way I tasted it, I thought the chipotles give a BIG immediate explosion, then die away, and there is a subtle heat from the chili powder. So, if you don't like that big heat, don't use the chipotles. The dish is fine without them.

SO you've added all this stuff to your big pot. Now add ten cups of water (remember, the beans were dry beans). Bring this all up to a boil, then lower the heat, put a lid on the pot and leave it slightly ajar, and go away for at least an hour and a half.

Come back and now, season this with salt, and if the tomatoes haven't broken down to your liking, crush them with the back of a spoon. Taste the beans. Fresh dried beans will cook faster than older ones (seems kind of odd to speak of "fresh" dried beans, doesn't it?), and check your water level. You may need to add more.

Now, go away for another half hour. Then come back. If your beans are tasting just a wee bit too undercooked, you're ready to add the squash, and the bulghur wheat. Cook all of this for another half hour, and you know what? You are DONE.

You serve this with whatever chili "fixins" you like. Annalena prefers a dollop of creme fraiche, but she's odd that way. Put whatever you like on it.

And, if you haven't noticed, there's a lot of this here. Time to share. Sharing is good.