Steve Sando wades into the chili wars with a meatless, bean-forward offering

The chili debate is one of Steve Sando’s favorites. Texans can be stubborn, and most will tell you that beans have no business in chili con carne. You can easily shrug and ignore them, doing what pleases you. However, bean broth adds something special to chili, even if you have few or no beans.

The Texas aversion to beans in chili is understandable when you have a traditional Texas chili and then compare it to what is basically a vegetable stew with a few jalapeños in it. A hot vegetable stew is not chili, even if you make it spicy.

A much bigger issue than beans in the chili debate is tomatoes. They are sweet, juicy, and acidic, but they really are wrong for this dish. Try making chili with dried chiles and no tomatoes, and see if you don’t agree. In this recipe from “The Bean Book,” Sando substituted meat with big, beefy runner beans.

A stubborn Texan isn’t likely to budge, but serve it with cornbread and enjoy yourself.

RANCHO GORDO CHILI SIN CARNE

Serving: 6 to 8

Ingredients

1⁄4 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1⁄2 white onion, chopped

2 tablespoons pure New Mexican red chile powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, preferably Rancho Gordo Oregano Indio

2 cups vegetable broth

4 cups cooked, drained hearty heirloom beans, such as Rancho Gordo Ayocote Negro, Ayocote Morado, Scarlet Runner, or Domingo Rojo, plus about 1 cup of bean broth reserved

Salt to taste Sugar (optional)

4 small zucchini (or 2 large), sliced into rounds or on a bias

Corn kernels, from 3 ears of corn

Lime wedges and/or crème fraîche for serving (optional)

Directions

In a large pot, such as an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat until it ripples. Add the garlic and onion and sauté until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the chile powder, cumin, and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. You should have a dense paste.

Very slowly, mix in the vegetable broth, stirring constantly until well blended. Gently add the beans and their broth and stir to combine. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add salt if needed. If the broth is overly bitter, add sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the flavor is correct.

Continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until the chili has started to thicken and there is no grainy texture from the chile powder.

Add the zucchini and corn and cook for 15 minutes.

Serve with lime wedges and a bowl of crème fraîche (if desired).

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Reprinted with permission from “The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with All Kinds of Beans, from the Rancho Gordo Kitchen” by Steve Sando with Julia Newberry, copyright (copyright) 2024. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Photographs copyright (copyright) 2024 by Ed Anderson.