White Bean Chili

Ben and Tracy stopped by Sunday on their way home from Jake (Ben's brother) and Erin's wedding. We were glad to get to visit them, and for this occasion, I tried a new recipe. Navy beans and lentils are GAPS-friendly beans, so this is a GAPS-friendly recipe. We liked it and will definitely do it again. It was warm on a cool fall evening and filling. It was adapted from Paula Dean's White Bean Chili recipe.

White Bean Chili
1 lb dried navy beans
5 cups chicken stock
4 T. ghee (butter would work, but Owen and I are back off of dairy until he gets over his cold)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 ancho chile, chopped
plus enough red bell pepper to make 1.5 cups total
meat from 1 chicken, boiled, removed from bones, and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 T. (generous) cumin seeds
1 T. (generous) oregano
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
6 garlic cloves
fresh tomatoes and avocado
olive oil

Bring beans to boil in water, remove from heat, and soak overnight.
Boil chicken until done. Cool chicken and remove from bones. Cut into bite-sized pieces and refrigerate until needed. Put bones back into pot to continue making stock.
Drain water from beans, and cook in chicken stock, adding more if necessary. Cook about 1 1/2 hours.
Saute peppers and onions in ghee. Add to beans. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, red pepper, cilantro. Simmer 1/2 hour.
Crush garlic and stir into soup. Remove from heat.
Serve with chopped tomatoes and avocado drizzled with olive oil.