There’s one thing at a cook-out that your guests will miss if it’s absent, even if it’s not always the star of the show: baked beans.
Some people like them served hot, and others prefer them at room temperature. However you take your beans, we’re here to help you jazz them up.
Baked beans are a store-cupboard staple and a byword for easy, economical meals.
They are usually made with white beans in a tomato sauce, along with spices and seasoning such as paprika, onion powder, salt, and sugar.
Cheap and convenient baked beans are full of protein, fibre, calcium, and potassium while being low in fat.
Here are three ways to transform them into something exciting:
1. Bean salad
Ingredients
60ml chives, chopped, or use salad onions
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 pinch salt and milled pepper
3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
Method
Blanch green beans in boiling water until just cooked but still crunchy. Refresh in iced water
Mix baked beans, kidney beans, chives, mayonnaise, and balsamic vinegar together.
Season and toss through green beans.
4 bacon rashers, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp barbecue sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
690g bottle tomato passata
400g can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
400g can cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
400g can black beans, drained, rinsed
2 red chillies, sliced
¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Place onion and bacon in a small roasting pan. Drizzle with oil. Bake, stirring halfway through cooking, for 15 minutes or until golden.
Add garlic and paprika. Stir to combine. Add maple syrup, sauces, passata, and beans. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan tightly with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for a further 15 minutes or until the beans are heated through and the sauce has thickened. Stir in chilli and coriander. Serve.
3. Tavče Gravče
Serves: 6
Ingredients
Cup dry white beans
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 onions, sliced
3 red onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves
2 green chili peppers, finely chopped
2 red bell peppers, sliced
2 yellow bell peppers, sliced
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
1 cup sunflower oil
2 bay leaves
A few mint leaves
½ bunch cilantro
Salt and pepper
Method
Soak the beans for 6 hours in boiling water and ½ teaspoon of baking soda.
Wash the beans and blanch in boiling water over high heat for 15 minutes. Drain.
In a stew pot, sauté two garlic cloves in a quarter of the oil.
Add a few slices of red and yellow peppers, half of the paprika, and one chili pepper. Pour the beans and ⅓ of chili powder. Salt. Cover tightly with water and cook 30 minutes over medium heat and 30 minutes on low heat.
Once the beans are cooked, drain and reserve the cooking liquid. Put aside.
In the second quarter, oil, sauté the onions. Add salt, the second third of chili powder, and the flour.
Simmer for 10 minutes. Put aside.
In the third quarter, oil, sauté the last two cloves of garlic, the remaining strips of bell peppers, the other half of paprika, and the second chili pepper for 15 minutes. Put aside.
Preheat the oven to 100 degrees Celsius.
In an earthenware pot or a glass baking dish, add the fourth quarter of the oil to the bottom.
Add all the above preparations in layers ending with beans on top.
Cover with the reserved cooking liquid, sprinkle chopped cilantro and mint.
Cover and bake for three hours.
