Received 17:25:51 on 07/18/91, Posting # 41 ***** Subject: chili recipe From: Leslie Baker Here's a free-form chili recipe that I invented as a vehicle for soybeans, sinc e they taste icky by themselves. Feel free to experiment; I add almost anythin g that looks good. Chili tastes better when you change the recipe anyway. This is also great in taco shells, with lettuce and tomato and some black olive s. In fact, I'm having it for dinner tonight. Ingredients: soybeans, chickpeas, green or brown lentils, an onion, garlic, chi li powder or dried chiles or other, a bay leaf, cumin, liquid (stock or water), other spices to taste, canned tomatoes or tomato paste if desired, anything el se you want to add, and a sense of adventure.(I have in my posession a chili re cipe that calls for a boomerang, but I'll spare you that.) Take dried soybeans and chickpeas (you can use canned, but I've never seen cann ed soybeans). These are the bulk of the recipe, so judge the quantity accordin gly, but remember that they'll get bigger. Wash them, soak overnight, and cook until soft, which may take several hours. (They'll cook more later.) Drain. Chop an onion and some garlic. Now inspect your spice cabinet. If you are goi ng to spice with a chili powder, put it in later with the beans. I prefer to u se whole dried chiles, which give a much better flavor. I just cut open the po ds and remove the seeds. If you use whole dried or fresh chiles, then be caref ul because they can and will burn your skin if they are strong. Whatever you us e, add a little at first and taste it before you add more, since you can't take it back out. I'm usually too liberal and wind up with a pot of fire. I fry the onion, garlic, chile pods, and a bay leaf in oil until the onion is s oft. Then I add a teaspoon or so of ground cumin and maybe some ground coriand er (that's not required; I put coriander in everything) and stir it in. Maybe some other spices too. Add the chili powder if you're using that. Then add th e cooked beans and kind of fry them in the remaining oil for a moment. Now add liquid: vegetable stock is best, or water. Beer is good too, but not f or all the liquid. Add about enough to cover the beans, and then add some lent ils. If you play with the lentils and the liquid while you cook, you can get i t to whatever thickness you want. Allow time for this, since the longer it coo ks the better it will taste anyway. If you want to add tomatoes or tomato paste, put that in now too. Tomato paste is a nice thickener, but too much can overwhelm the flavor, so go a spoonful a t a time. Now cook it for a while; give the lentils a half hour to an hour, and after tha t cook it as long as you want to. I like to leave it on the stove for hours an d add something else every so often, but then I'm kind of weird that way. Tast e it to check the spices, and add more if you want. Chili freezes well, so you can keep your leftovers for an emergency meal. It's also a good thing to make for lots of people, since it's simple and beans are cheap. And those soybeans make it pretty healthy, too. Happy eating! *****