Our long warm fall has turned into a long (or so it seems) cold winter. Not a lot of rain, snow or cloudy skies, but still very cold. At least for me!
After holiday excesses we spent most of last week juicing and drinking smoothies to try and detox a little. After a week of that I was really ready for some bulky, tasty and very hot food. Baked beans seemed like just the thing. Threw a batch together and stuck them in the oven.
The thing to remember in this recipe is that you need cooked white beans. You can do them from scratch either in a pressure cooker or by boiling or you can simply used canned. Used canned on these because I didn’t want to wait to soak and then cook them. Just slightly impatient. . .
Vegetarian Boston Baked Beans
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees
- In a Dutch oven add a small amount of olive oil to sauté:
- 1 large onion
- Garlic to taste
- While the onion is sautéing mix together a sauce:
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon ground mustard
- 2 Tablespoons prepared mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- When the onion is clear add:
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 chopped green apple
- 1 Tablespoon grated ginger
- Cook the mixture in the Dutch oven for 2-3 minutes (until apple is soft) and then add:
- 8 cups cooked white beans
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
- salt to taste
- Stir well and heat for 1 minute and then add sauce (see 2 above) stirring well
- Cover the entire mixture with warm water
- Place lid on Dutch oven and put the pot in the oven
- Bake for 4-5 hours checking and stirring every hour or so; you will probably have to add a cup or two of water over the baking time
We had the baked beans and a salad for lunch. Can’t tell you how wonderful they tasted! It might have been that I wanted food so badly, but I doubt it. They tasted even better the next day.