Vegan Stewed Beans

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh beans (if using dried you'll need to soak before cooking)
• 4-5 garlic cloves (diced,)
• 1 yellow onion (diced)
• 1 medium bell pepper (diced)
• 5-6 padron peppers (substitute other mild chili peppers or remove the seeds from any spicy ones like )serrano, jalapeno, fresno))
• 2-3 celery stems (whole)
• 2 medium carrots (peeled)
• 2-3 medium tomatoes (core removed)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 2-3 culantro leaves (substitute fresh cilantro (1/4 cup roughly chopped))
• 2-3 large swiss chard leaves (cleaned, de-stemmed, and roughly chopped)
• 1 1/2 cups Vegetable Stock
• 1 cup Water (or enough to cover the beans completely)

Instructions

1. 1

   --- Make spice mix ---

2. 2

   Combine paprika, allspice, salt, and pepper in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.

3. 3

   --- Make Sofrito ---

4. 4

   Dice garlic, bell peppers, and onions. Saute them in a pan with olive oil 1-2 minutes. Add a pinch or two of the dry seasoning mix.

5. 5

   --- Cook The Beans ---

6. 6

   Add the beans to the pot and mix them with the sofrito. Add a bit more seasoning plus the peeled but uncut carrots, whole celery, tomatoes, vegetable stock, water, bay leaf, patron peppers, and half the remaining spice mix. Bring beans to a boil then reduce to a simmer covered for 30-40 minutes.

7. 7

   --- Puree The Vegetables ---

8. 8

   Remove vegetables (carrots, celery, padron peppers, and tomatoes) from the pot of beans. Place veggies in a food processor along with a 1/4 cup or more of the cooking liquid, and the culantro then puree to a thick paste.

9. 9

   Add pureed mix, last of the seasoning, and the Swiss chard. Cook another 15 minutes. Stir and serve.