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Health & Fitness

Trace's Zesty Vegan, Adzuki Bean Chili With A Latin Flare!

Low fat, high protein and pretty tasty!

Trace's Zesty Vegan, Adzuki Bean Chili With A Latin Flare!

1lb of little red Adzuki Beans on high to boil.
These are small, red, delicate beans and don't take long to cook.

Adzukis are a naturally low-fat, high-protein, Asian bean dating back to Japan, 4000BCE to 2000BCE. You can find them in loose bulk at Earth Origins, 6651 Central Avenue St. Petersburg, Florida, 33710.

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While the adzukis are cooking, put all the following raw ingredients into a big bowl and set aside. Add this bowl to the beans when they are very nearly done cooking, so as to not cook the veggies to death. Dead veggies don't provide much nutrition.

1 big yellow onion, medium diced
1/2lb chopped tomatoes (I prefer a variety of heirloom but all kinds will do.)
1 bell pepper (optional, I don't use it.)
1 bunch cilantro chopped
1 half to a whole garlic clove chopped
1 finely chopped jalapeno (optional and can be substituted with any other raw, smoked, or dried chili preference. This can really change things up! Go wild! Get Crazy! Create!)
The juice and pulp of 2 juicy limes. (One of the most important ingredients!)

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When the beans are about halfway done add these spices to them. These are approximates because I never measure. Adjust the spices to taste as you develop your own relationship with the recipe.
1/3 to one half small can tomato paste (be careful with this. Add a little at a time tasting as you go. Too much and it changes from chili to something else.)
1 small can tomato sauce
4 good jiggers of Worcestershire
1 to 2 TB spicy brown mustard or ground mustard seed. (Be careful with this one, too.)
1 TB ground cumin
1 TB paprika
1/2 ts cayenne
1/2 to 1 ts black pepper
3 bay leaves
1/2 TB thyme
1/3 TB ground sage
1/2 TB Turmeric
1/2 TB raw cocoa
1 TB chili powder
sea salt to taste
2 good jiggers of Louisiana hot sauce 
(totally optional ;))

When you feel it pull together, should be slightly thick, remove from heat.

Serve oven-steamed tortillas with a bowl of the vegan chili and some fresh avocado halves sans seed. (the tortillas are good steam-soft or baked-crispy.)

It's pretty tasty! Enjoy!

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