The Ultimate Tex-Mex Chili Recipe, Spotlight on Urfa Peppers and Capsaicin, Plus How to Combat the Harmful Effects of Sedentary Behavior

Cold days almost demand comfort foods, and one of my favorites is a hearty bowl of chili. I love the depth of flavor you can build with spices along with the convenience of cooking it in one pot. This issue of The Olive Oil Hunter Newsletter also features one of the most exotic spices in my pantry—black Urfa chili. A mainstay in the Middle East for centuries, it has recently become better known in the West because current events in Syria have made it very hard to find its kitchen cousin, Aleppo pepper. Now let’s get cooking…

The Ultimate Tex-Mex Chili

• Rich and Hearty Chili

  A mix of rich spices takes run-of-the-mill chili to a whole new level. You’ll need a few hours for the flavors to develop, but not a lot of active effort. And the results are more than worth it! If you prefer to start with dried beans, soak a total of two cups of your favorite variety or varieties and add them to the pot when you add back the cooked beef. Made with beans, this chili is a good source of important fiber as well as other nutrients.

  Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 large onions, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 16 ounces baby portobello or white button mushrooms, sliced thin
  • 2 pounds ground beef, chicken, or turkey
  • 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
  • 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes with liquid
  • 2 15-ounce cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon each cayenne, allspice, and coarse salt
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider or sherry vinegar
  • Optional toppings for serving: diced raw onions, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and crushed corn or tortilla chips as desired

  Directions

  Step 1

  Heat a large stockpot or Dutch oven. Add the oil and then the onions and garlic. Cook over medium heat until soft. Add the mushrooms and sauté until soft. Add the ground meat in batches and cook until browned. 

  Step 2

  Push everything to the sides of the pot and add the tomato paste. Cook it until it turns a deep, brownish red and then fold it into the vegetables and meat. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. 

  Step 3

  Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for three hours, stirring every half hour. If the liquid is evaporating too quickly, place the lid ajar. Remove the bay leaves and serve with your choice of toppings. 

  Yields 8 hearty servings. 

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Urfa Peppers

Turkey occupies a unique place on the globe, at the intersection of Europe and Asia. Straddling the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean to the south, it’s a hotbed of amazing herbs and spices. Black Urfa chili (Capsicum annuum) takes its name from the ancient southeast town of Urfa—local farmers grow it in the surrounding hills.

In many areas of Turkey, Urfa chili, also known as Urfa biber or Urfa pepper, is as common on the dinner table as cracked black peppercorns are here. I’m still amazed when I see it growing:

These peppers are red and shaped like bell peppers, but pack a taste that a bell pepper can only dream of! Urfa peppers magically turn maroon as they ripen. Then, unlike most peppers that are simply dried after harvest, they go through a double process—sun-dried by day and tightly wrapped at night, a technique that preserves their oil content, enriches their flavor, and deepens their color to a purple-black. They’re then stone-ground into small flakes and mixed with some sea salt and sunflower seed oil to further enhance flavor and texture.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Cooking with Black Urfa Peppers

Black Urfa chili adds rich smokiness to Middle Eastern dishes, and it’s especially delicious on lamb boreks, koftis, kebabs, and other grilled meats, as well as on veggies. It’s also wonderful in many other cuisines—think French stews and South American pork roasts. It will enliven your favorite salad dressings and wet and dry rubs, jazz up simple scrambled or fried eggs, and bring extra depth and a hint of heat to brownies, blondies, hot chocolate, and even a scoop of chocolate ice cream.

For Your Best Health

Capsaicin and Urfa Peppers

As with all peppers, at the heart of black Urfa chili’s heat is capsaicin, the naturally occurring compound that determines how sweet or hot a pepper is. Capsaicin has antioxidant and antibacterial properties, so it may help protect against infection, improve digestion, and possibly one day have a role in anti-cancer therapies. According to a report published in Molecules, there’s some evidence that eating hot pepper every day helps curb hunger and may even lead to a higher calorie burn rate. Research is underway to figure out the best daily amount, but in the meantime you can test out the theory yourself.

Fitness Flash

Combat the Harmful Effects of Sedentary Behavior

Between the weather and the pandemic, you might be hunkered down at home, but it’s never been more important to be active. According to new global guidelines from the World Health Organization regarding physical activity and sedentary behavior, published in a special issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, it takes more daily exercise than currently prescribed to counter the harmful effects of sitting for long periods of time, defined as 10 or more hours a day, often a combination of a desk job and evenings spent watching TV. Logging more exercise minutes can lower the risk of early death, which has been linked to being sedentary, to the level of someone whose lifestyle is quite active.

While any amount of physical activity is better than none when it comes to good health, the guidelines emphasize aiming for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise, or the equivalent combination of the two, every week, and the more, the better. A good daily goal is 30 to 40 minutes of moderate exercise. It’s fine to start slow and gradually build frequency, intensity, and duration over time.
Here’s how the report describes moderate and vigorous exercise:

• Moderate-intensity activity increases heart rate and induces a degree of breathlessness that still allows a person to talk. Examples include brisk walking, dancing, and raking leaves. 
• Vigorous-intensity activity substantially increases heart rate and breathing rate. Examples include cycling, running/jogging, swimming, carrying heavy objects, walking up the stairs, digging in the garden, and playing tennis.

The report states that it’s also important to strength train on two or more days of the week, or three times (roughly every other day) if you’re over 65 to enhance physical functioning. And, of course, do whatever you can to reduce sitting time.

Stuck inside? “There are plenty of indoor options that don’t need a lot of space or equipment, such as climbing the stairs, active play with children or pets, dancing, or online yoga or Pilates classes,” said Emmanuel Stamatakis, PhD, professor at the University of Sydney and co-editor of the special issue.

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Cannellini Bean and Gorgonzola Bruschetta Recipe, Spotlight on Cannellini Beans, Blood Pressure and Weight-Loss

The holidays definitely have a different feel this year, but even when cooking for just one or two, my food philosophy is that your dishes should still be every bit as pleasing to your palate—no cutting corners! Cooking is a wonderful gift we can give ourselves, and there’s nothing quite as good for the soul and the psyche as filling your home with wonderful aromas from the kitchen. Use the great tech tools we have to cook with a faraway friend or loved one through your iPad or during a Zoom call—both the recipes in this issue of The Olive Oil Hunter Newsletter are easy enough to do while you chat. Just set a timer so you remember to take your pans out of the oven on time!

Cannellini Bean and Gorgonzola Bruschetta

• Cannellini Bean and Gorgonzola Bruschetta

  Creamy beans, crispy prosciutto, and tangy gorgonzola cheese—what could make a more satisfying and delicious bruschetta topping? But if you want to skip the bread, enjoy this as a side dish with lamb or another roasted meat.

  Ingredients

  • 12 thin slices prosciutto (about 6 ounces)
  • 1 baguette cut into 1/2-inch slices
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary needles
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (optional) 
  • Two 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and well rinsed 
  • 3 ounces gorgonzola dolce or another mild blue cheese 
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • Kosher salt 
  • Freshly ground black pepper 

  Directions

  Step 1

  Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the prosciutto on it in a single layer (use two baking sheets if necessary). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the prosciutto has changed color slightly and is crisp (it will continue to crisp as it cools). Transfer to a cooling rack and set aside. Toast the bread while the oven is hot (you can do this while the prosciutto bakes if your oven is large enough). 

  Step 2

  In the meantime, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the rosemary, garlic, and hot pepper flakes (if using them), and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until the garlic softens but does not brown. Stir in the beans, mashing them roughly with the back of a spoon. Stir in the cheese and cook until it melts. Add the lemon juice, and then season to taste with salt and pepper. 

  Step 3

  To serve, spread the bean and cheese mixture on the toasted bread. Drizzle with more olive oil, and then crumble prosciutto on top. 

  Yields 4 to 6 servings.

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Cannellini (White Beans)

All legumes are great sources of protein, but a number of white beans—cannellini, Great Northern, and Navy beans in particular—also offer a creaminess that can rival potatoes, with a far healthier nutrient profile. One cup of cooked white beans delivers between 15 and 19 grams of protein and about 12 grams of all-important fiber, plus key vitamins and minerals. I’m all for the convenience of buying canned beans, as long as you look for no- or low-sodium varieties and always rinse them well. But if you have the time to soak dried beans, there are even more delicate and creamy varieties to try. Tarbais (the bean used for cassoulets), large white lima beans, and delicate flageolets are wonderful choices, especially for slow-simmered stews and casseroles. They’re all available from artisanal grower Rancho Gordo.

Healthy Kitchen Nugget

Roasting Cannellini

A crunchy and streamlined twist on the above recipe is to roast the cannellini beans almost as you would fingerling potatoes. Here’s how: After rinsing the beans, turn them out on paper towels and pat them dry. Next, transfer them to a sheet pan, spreading them out in a single layer, and pop the pan in the fridge while you preheat your oven to 425°F (an hour’s chill time is even better). When the oven’s ready, add a few thickly sliced garlic cloves to the pan and sprinkle everything liberally with extra virgin olive oil. Add a pinch of salt, a few grinds of fresh black peppercorns, and a few fresh chopped rosemary needles. Roast for 15 minutes, and then use a spatula to flip the beans and roast for another 15 minutes until crisp and golden. Before serving, use a microplane grater to grate some lemon zest over the beans, and serve.

For Your Best Health

Importance of Normal Blood Pressure

We know how important it is for your heart to keep blood pressure in a healthy range. Now we’re learning just how important it is for your brain too. According to Dr. Karolina Wartolowska of the Centre for Prevention of Stroke and Dementia at the University of Oxford (UK) and co-author of a new study published in the European Heart Journal, damage to small blood vessels in the brain can increase not only from aging but also from blood pressure. Dr. Wartolowska’s new research found that having a higher diastolic blood pressure (the second, lower number on a blood pressure reading) in your 40s and 50s is associated with more extensive brain damage in your later years. “This means that it is not just the systolic blood pressure, the first, higher number, that is important to prevent brain tissue damage,” she says. “Many people may think of hypertension and stroke as diseases of older people, but our results suggest that if we would like to keep a healthy brain well into our 60s and 70s, we may have to make sure our blood pressure, including the diastolic blood pressure, stays within a healthy range when we are in our 40s and 50s.” Her research also suggests that even slightly elevated blood pressure—before it meets the criteria for treatment—can harm brain tissue. So, the goal might be to have blood pressure on the lower end of normal, like a reading of 120/70, rather than a somewhat higher level that might still be considered within the normal range.

Lifestyle steps can have a significant impact on your numbers. Here are suggestions to follow from the Mayo Clinic:

• Lose any extra weight. 
• Get regular exercise. 
• Eat a healthy diet.
• Lower your salt intake. 
• Limit alcoholic beverages (one per day for women, two for men, max).
• Stop smoking.
• Reduce caffeine. 
• Ease stress.
• Monitor your blood pressure at home and check in with your doctor regularly.
• Get support from friends and loved ones to help you reach these goals.

Fitness Flash

Making Weight-Loss Accessible

Are you stuck on the idea that weight loss is possible only for younger people? Research from the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UK) found that age is not a barrier to losing weight—what matters is having a plan. 

For the study, published in Clinical Endocrinology, researchers looked at the results of dieters who participated in a formal weight loss program held in a hospital setting, comparing those under 60 years old to those over 60. It turned out that both groups successfully lost roughly the same 7% of their body weight by making the same set of lifestyle changes—improving diet quality and getting more active. They were also given emotional support to stick with the program. Commitment counts, too; many stayed involved with the program for more or less three years.

If you’ve shied away from joining an organized weight loss program, know that it could make the difference you’re looking for when it comes to shedding pounds. And, as the study’s lead author, Dr. Thomas Barber, pointed out, “Weight loss is important at any age, but as we get older, we’re more likely to develop the weight-related comorbidities of obesity. Many of these are similar to the effects of aging, so you could argue that the relevance of weight loss becomes heightened as we get older.”

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