Using local ingredients this chili comes together with minimal effort, you can leave it in a crock-pot all day or quickly cook it in your pressure cooker. Almost all the ingredients came from the 21 Acres Farm Market, except for the tomato paste (which is actually really easy to make from fresh tomatoes, but that’s a whole different blog post!). We got our beans from Alvarez Farms located in Mabton, WA, the grass fed beef is from Cascade Meats in Skagit County, and most of the veggies were grown right here in Woodinville on the 21 Acres Farm! The huge bonus though is how little waste this recipe creates if you use dried beans instead of canned. 

Chili Recipe:

4 cups dried beans, I used pinto, black, and red chilli lava (soak overnight or cook ahead in pressure cooker for 22 minutes under high pressure with 1 tbsp of oil)
2lbs ground beef
3 stalks celery (leaves and all)
2 medium sized onions
2 medium sized tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 orange or red bell pepper
1 jalapeno (seeded if you don’t want a spicy chili)
1 can tomato paste or 1/4 cup (add more for a thicker chili)
1-2 tbsp molasses (it gets sweeter the more you put in)
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp honey
1 tsp hot sauce 
3 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp celery seed (only if you have on hand)
1/2 tsp white pepper 
Salt + Pepper to taste
Chopped spring onions, sour cream, and cheese–try Mt. Townsend’s New Moon Jack Cheese–for serving.

Directions:

Soak or cook beans. While cooking beans cut up all veggies (I like mine diced very small). Add meat, veggies, and all the dry spices to a large skillet and cook until the meat is browned. Drain the beans and put in a crock pot with the tomato paste, molasses, and honey. Then add the meat mixture too. Cook in crock pot on low for 6 hours or on high for 3-4 or cook in your pressure cooker for 15 minutes on high pressure. Don’t forgot to add salt and pepper and the toppings, then curl up and enjoy this steaming hot bowl of comfort on your couch! 
 
*If cooking in the pressure cooker add the salt after all cooking is done. This way your beans will not explode.