This recipe is from the Garden Kitchen. Tepary beans are a traditional food of the Tohono O'odham tribe of southern Arizona and northern Mexico, (formerly known as the Papago tribe.) You can purchase the beans directly from the Tohono O'odham on the Ramona Farms website. I would recommend the brown tepary beans, but the black or white varieties would work well too. At this writing, (March 1, 2024), you can get 2 Lbs of tepary beans for $13.00. I don't know what shipping costs but $6.50 a pound is a great price.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry tepary beans, soaked for 8-24 hours
Green Chile Tepary Bean Stew - 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 12 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, chicken or beef stock, or water - my first time through this recipe I only used 8 cups of beef stock and that seemed like plenty of liquid for the beans
- 1 lb chorizo sausage
- 1 bay leaf - I used 5 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoons fresh garlic, chopped
- 1 ½ cups chayote squash, diced
- 1 ½ cups carrot, diced
- 1 cup roasted green chilies, peeled, seeded, and chopped - you can use Ortega chiles from the store, or you can order 25 Lbs of freshly harvested green chiles from Hatch Chiles. They are harvested in August and 25 Lbs will be delivered to you within 2 or 3 days of harvesting. You then char broil and peel them - 25 Lbs goes a long way 😊
- 1 teaspoon dried or 1 tablespoon fresh epazote, chopped or oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)
What to do with them...
- Drain and rinse beans, discarding any pebbles or beans that are cracked, and set aside.
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, pour in oil and add chorizo sausage. Stir until crumbled and starting to brown. Add chopped onion. Cook onion, stirring occasionally until edges are browned and centers are clear, about 5 minutes.
- Add stock or water, bay leaf, and pre-soaked beans. Beans should be covered by at least a ½ inch of liquid (stock or water).
- Bring to a boil and reduce to a low simmer.
- Cook, uncovered for 1½ hours until beans are almost tender. (Check beans at one hour, if beans look dry, add an additional cup of stock or water.)
- Stir in garlic, squash, carrots, chilies, epazote or oregano, and cumin. Cook until beans and vegetables are tender, perhaps another hour. Add salt and pepper to the pot and stir.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve warm. Enjoy!