HEART WARMING VEGETABLE CHILI — CREATING HEALTHY TIMES

One of the things all of the areas in the world with the greatest number of centurions (people who have reached age 100 and up) have in common is that they consume a diet high in beans. Beans are high in plant-based protein, fiber, as well as vitamins and minerals and of exceptional nutritional value - unless you are unable to digest them…

While suffering from chronic gut inflammation, beans used to give me a hard time. They caused me all kinds of unpleasant and painful symptoms, so I avoided them as much as I could. Years ago, I changed my diet to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet in order to address my chronic inflammation. As I stopped feeding the gut inflammation and added high-value nutrients to strengthen my immune system, the gut slowly healed and symptoms subsided. Since I knew of the nutritional value of beans, I was eager to introduce them into my diet. Eventually, my health had improved sufficiently to reintroduce former troublesome foods such as beans. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet allows several kinds of dried beans and legumes which you can find on the legal/illegal list. I learned to properly soak the beans overnight in order to diminish the amount of anti-nutrients, meaning compounds that can inhibit digestion and thus cause unpleasant and harmful symptoms in the gut. I would eat a meal with the beans and if they caused symptoms, I would refrain from eating them for about 6 months and then try once again until I reached the point where they didn’t bother me anymore. It took a couple of attempts over the course of my healing time, but eventually I succeeded and was able to digest beans and lentils properly without them causing any symptoms.

This soup is made with baby lima beans that I presoaked overnight. I really love the buttery taste of lima beans, but you can substitute them with any of your favorite beans - just check on the recommended cooking time! I don’t think this soup needs extra protein from meat, but the hardcore meat-lovers in my family love adding smoked chorizo sausage or beef hot dogs. You can also add pieces of fish (make sure all fishbones are properly removed) to the soup and let boil for 15 minutes so the fish is cooked thoroughly to make it a fish soup. You can garnish it with minced parsley, that’s my preference, or add some grated parmesan, that’s my husband’s - I find you don’t have to agree on everything as long as everybody’s satisfied, right?
Bon Appetit!

INGREDIENTS
15 oz organic dried baby Lima beans (or other SCD recommended beans) soaked overnight
1/8 cup olive oil or ghee
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium zucchini, cut into bite size pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces
1 green bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces
1 jalapeño, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 jars organic crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp honey
1 tsp ground cumin

for garnish:
chopped parsley, cilantro, or freshly grated parmesan cheese

meat options:
smoked chorizo sausages cut into bite size pieces, beef hot dogs, or bite size pieces of fresh fish like salmon or cod.

INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the olive oil or ghee in a large cooking pot. Add the onions and garlic and sautée until the onions turn translucent. Add the zucchini, jalapeño, and bell peppers and sautée until tender. Add the crushed tomatoes, beans, parsley, cilantro, and seasonings. If needed you can add some filtered water or vegetable broth to make sure everything is submerged in the soup. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 60 minutes or until the beans are tender.

If you want to add fresh fish, I would recommend adding the fish pieces for the last 15 minutes of the cooking time.

As for the sausages, you can add them in at the end and simply give them 10 minutes to heat up in the soup.

Garnish with minced parsley, cilantro, or parmesan cheese.

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