Chipotle Black Bean and Quinoa Crock-Pot Stew

By vealam

Ingredients

• for topping:
• 1-2 dried chipotle peppers
• 1 lb of dried organic black beans, rinsed and picked over
• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and picked over
• 1 28-ounce can organic diced tomatoes
• 1 red onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 dried cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons chile powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
• 7 cups water
• sea salt and pepper, to taste
• cilantro
• green onions, thinly sliced
• lime wedges
• avocado

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from tasty-yummies.com

Preparation

Step 1

Load all of the ingredients, except the salt, into your slow-cooker, stir to combine. If you wish to saute the onion, garlic and bell pepper first, you can, but I like to make crock-pot cooking as simple and quick as possible. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours, or on low for 8 to 10 hours, until the black beans are tender. The time to cook the beans can vary based on the strength of your slow cooker and also the freshness of your beans. Add the salt at the very end, as it will affect how the beans cook, if you add it at the beginning.

Remove the chipotles (if you don’t want a mouthful of a whole spicy pepper) and the cinnamon stick before serving. Ladle into bowls and serve topped with fresh cilantro, green onions, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, diced avocado, sour cream, hot sauce, tortilla chips, etc.

PLEASE NOTE:

It seems due to the varying cooking power and strengths of crock pots and other slow cookers, unfortunately the cooking time for the dried beans can vary significantly. For some, this time works great and for others the beans are still crunchy even after 12 hours. If your crock pot is older or is known for not being very strong, I would suggest soaking and/or pre-cooking the beans first, before putting them in the crock pot. This time has always worked for me and my crock pot and I have made this recipe many many times. Sadly without being able to test it on other slow cookers, I have know way of knowing how much that time can vary.