Summer Chili With All The Veggies

my apologies to texas, this chili is more produce than meat

Sohla El-Waylly

Aug 1

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Preview

Real chili, the kind I envision cowboys simmered over open flames, with secret recipes earning blue ribbons, is all about the meat. Hunks of various cuts of meat stew for forever with spices, pureed dried chilis, aromatics, and maybe tomatoes until it all falls apart into a rich gravy. Die-hard chili heads balk at adding beans or using ground meat, so they will most certainly hate this summer chili. Look away, chili purists. This baby is more vegetables than anything else.

Yes, it breaks all the rules by starting things off with ground meat, then uses generic chili powder instead of whole dried chilies, and as a final smack in the face, packs the whole damn farmers market into the pot. But it’s chili in its heart, I swear. And I think, exactly what you want to eat in this heat wave.

For this recipe, I drew some inspiration from loubieh bi zeit, a green bean stew Ham makes on repeat in the summer. The beans are cooked down until they fully melt into silky bites, which he serves as part of a mezze spread or as a side with grilled meat. It’s totally turned me around on fresh beans, which were never a summer vegetable I clamored for. If you run into us at the farmers market and see Ham packing a tote full of beans, that’s why.

Rather than getting its richness from meat, this chili takes a note from loubieh bi zeit, relying instead on the luscious texture of long simmered fresh beans. Use any kind you can get your hands on, like romano beans, wax beans, or string beans. But if all you can find are your standard green beans, they will work here just as well.

The fussiest part of this recipe is all the knife work, but a lot of it can happen while the meat browns, unless you’re not so confident in your chopping skills. In that case, I recommend you prep all your veggies before you get cooking so you can focus on the cooking part. This chili only tastes better as it sits, so it’s a great dish to prep on Sunday and eat all week.

You’ve got a lot of downtime while the whole pot simmers together, so I use that time to whip up a quick cornbread to serve alongside. Try this super easy recipe by King Arthur if you want to round out the meal. They also offer ways to jazz it up with bacon and cheese if you want to level things up.