As noted in my Hummus and White Beans on Toast for One or Two recipes, I've come to enjoy eating beans on a regular basis,--Roasted Red Pepper and Hummus or Apple and Hummus Triangle Pita Sandwiches, Black Bean Sloppy Joe, etc.. As a native of New England, I knew about baked beans and believed any successful baked bean recipe required salted pork, like bacon or ham. While I've seen cans of vegetarian baked beans in the supermarket while grocery shopping, the thought of making vegetarian baked beans from scratch didn't enter my mind until I was searching for beans on toast recipes.
My search led me to a vegetarian baked bean recipe from Delicious Everyday which serves 6, and which I suggest trying if anyone wants a recipe which serves more that what's listed here. If you compare the two recipes, you'll notice I swapped the crushed tomatoes for tomato sauce, cannellini (white kidney) beans for great northern beans, garlic clove for minced garlic, dijon mustard for spicy brown, skipped the salt and pepper. This recipe has a lot of flexibility.
If using dried beans, these can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator. If doing this, start with step 2, “If using canned beans ….”
While Beans in Red Sauce or Skillet Vegetarian Baked Beans (serves 2-3)
½ cup dry or 1 cup canned white beans such as great northern cannellini, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ cup onion, diced
1/3 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon organic brown sugar or maple syrup
1 teaspoon soy or tamari sauce
1 teaspoon dijon or spicy brown mustard
1 teaspoon paprika (smoked recommended)
¾ cup tomato sauce (Hunt's no salt added tomato sauce, recommended)
7 ½ -8 inch skillet with lid
1) If using dried beans, rinse beans then soak in 2 cups cold water in covered 3 quart pot for at least 8 hours. Drain, add two more cups cold water and cook beans over low to medium heat for 1 hour or until beans are at desired softness.
2) If using canned beans, in a 7 ½ -8 inch skillet cook olive oil, onion and garlic over medium heat until onion is translucent,--about 5-9 minutes.
3) Add beans, brown sugar or maple syrup, soy or tamari sauce, mustard, paprika, tomato sauce to skillet. Gently stir to combine ingredients.
4) Reduce heat to low, cover skillet and cook 25 – 45 minutes or until desired thickness. Serve. Store any leftovers in airtight container in refrigerator.
Beans ready to serve
