Vegetarian Baked Beans with Maple Syrup and Beer

This is such a Quebec dish…except where did the pig go? Baked beans——or “fèves au lard” in this great province——are traditionally made with lard or bacon or lardons to give it a richness. The problem is I don’t eat pork. Well, it’s not so much a problem as an inconvenience when going out to restaurants when I’m craving baked beans. You’d think these guys should be healthy, and they should be, but normally you make them delicious by throwing in the animal products, a lot of sugar, and a lot of salt. God bless this province and its culinary traditions.

So in HeartSmart: The Best of HeartSmart Cooking, Bonnie Stern gets around the pig problem by upping the sugar content. Often there’s molasses or ketchup and brown sugar in baked bean recipes, but this one takes it a bit further with molasses AND maple syrup AND beer AND dijon AND optional chipotle purée (which has a lot of sugar of its own). At least you can cut down on the sodium by using dried navy beans. It takes some forethought, but is well worth it. You can even make this into a slow-cooker recipe by transferring the contents of the skillet to the slow-cooker after step 8 and adding the beans. Then cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8, but then you’ll want to drain the tomatoes so the dish isn’t too liquidy. 2 hours in the oven starts to seem like no time at all in comparison. Either way, the beans are “slow-cooked” and delicious and can be eaten for breakfast, brunch, lunch, supper, or dessert. Okay, dessert might be pushing it since the tomatoes make it savoury, but it’s not a far cry fro Asian red bean desserts.

One more quick anecdote because I’m pre-occupied…I went to a raw dessert potluck last night where the guest speaker, John Fielding, spoke about osteopathy and allowing the body to heal itself by letting all the energy that would go into digesting food go into healing (aka fasting for short to long periods of time). He mentioned how hard beans are on digestion, and yes, they are, even sprouted ones, but the idea of my lunch everyday being 1 to 2 pounds of fruit and my dinner being chopped cucumbers, a tomato, half an avocado, greens, and “green lava” dressing (spinach or chard, parsley, and a few other things blended up and poured on top) would be enough to make me want to die. So unless I actually had cancer or an auto-immune disease or acute pain or anything serious enough to merit never eating baked beans again or sticky-sweet molasses, or maple syrup, or dijon mustard, or, for goodness sake, anything cooked, I think I’ll stick with deriving pleasure from eating. I’ll appreciate every bite, every flavour, and with enough salads thrown in there for good measure, I’ll be healthy enough. I think that’s the point – healthy enough so as to not impede too much on your quality of life. That being said, here’s the baked beans recipe – one more reason to love life.

Ingredients

2 cups dried navy beans (you can used four 298mL cans if you’re rushed or don’t plan a day in advance)

1/4 tsp turmeric

2 tsp oil

2 onions, diced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes, with juice, broken up (why Bonnie doesn’t just asked for a can of diced tomatoes is beyond me…I say just buy the pre-chopped can of tomatoes since breaking up the tomatoes gets messy and chunky…)

1 1/2 cups puréed plum tomatoes or tomato sauce (what you can do is just buy a 2nd large can of tomatoes, drain off the juice, and purée the tomatoes in the blender instead of going out of your way to find puréed tomatoes. If you use “tomato sauce” check what else is in it. If it’s sweetened you’ll want to add less molasses or maple syrup below. If it’s high in sodium, skip the salt in the recipe)

1 bottle of beer (a standard 12 oz bottle, not something ridiculous like La Fin du Monde or anything strong from Unibroue…although those big bottles would give this a sweeter taste and the alcohol mostly cooks off anyway…next time: “Baked Beans for the End of Time”. If I was dying I’d probably take Fin du Monde baked beans over green lava salad…use a gluten-free beer from La Messangère or Glutenburg if desired)

1/3 cup molasses (I’d also take the sugar high and all the minerals in molasses over carrot sticks and cucumbers)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar (by the way, Fielding thinks apple cider vinegar is a highly overrated “health” product)

2 tbsp maple syrup (or brown sugar, but clearly maple syrup is better tastewise and nutrient-wise, even if the glycemic index is still ridiculously high)

1 tbsp chopped fresh sage, or 1/2 tsp dried

1 tbsp dijon mustard (this gives zing. Don’t use regular yellow mustard if you can help it)

2 tsp chipotle purée, or 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped (you’re supposed to buy a can of chipotles in adobo sauce, blend the contents of the can and then take 2 tsp of it for this recipe. You can freeze the rest in an ice cube tray and then transfer to a freezer-proof bag for all your future baked beans or other chipotle purée needs. Bonnie Stern actually calls for it a lot in her books, but you can use it in anything tomato-based for some spicy sweetness. If you use just the jalapeno you skip all the excess sugar and salt, which is better for you, but not as flavourful – salt and sugar are pretty addictive)

1/2 tsp salt (skip if you use canned beans or cans of tomatoes with a lot of sodium – if you don’t know what “a lot” is, it’s basically every can that doesn’t say “low in sodium”. I think anything over 150mg/serving is high. When you get up into the 300’s you’re too high, but it’s all a balance, so as long as you don’t eat canned foods too regularly, having a can of something with a lot of sodium every now and then won’t kill you. I’m sure Fielding would disagree)

1/2 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Put the beans in a large bowl with 6 cups of cold water and let soak overnight. Bonnie says put the beans in the fridge, but I think you can leave them on the counter and they’ll be fine.

2. In the morning drain the beans and put them in a large pot on the stove with another 6 cups of cold water and the 1/4 tsp of turmeric (this is my addition to the recipe. It helps make the beans more easily digestible, Fielding. You won’t taste the turmeric and they won’t affect the colour since the dish is red anyway). Bring them to a boil, skim off the scum that rises to the top, then reduce the heat and let them simmer, uncovered (or partially covered to waste less heat), for 1 hour, or until they’re tender.

3. While the beans are cooking chop and measure the rest of the ingredients. Have them ready to go so the next step is easy.

4. After an hour taste a few beans to test them for tenderness. They get baked again for a long time later, so a little under-cooked is fine. You don’t want mushy beans.

5. If you’re happy with them, dump them into a colander or drain them in the pot and rinse them (drain again if using a pot and not a colander. The colander is better because you’re supposed to leave them to drain after rinsing so you don’t end up with watery beans in the dish, but I say do whatever you like) while you do the next step.

6. Now heat the oil on medium heat in a large skillet or pot. When the oil is hot add the onions and garlic and cook for 8 minutes, stirring pretty regularly so they don’t stick. You can add a tbsp of water if they start to blacken and stick to the pan. The onions should be tender and translucent after 8 minutes.

7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and get out a large casserole or 11″ x 13″ baking dish (preferably with a cover, but you can also use aluminum foil as a lid).

8. Add the puréed tomatoes, the canned tomatoes, the beer, molasses, vinegar, maple syrup, sage, Dijon, chipotle (or jalapeno), and salt and pepper to the sauce in the skillet. Bring the contents to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes to let the flavours blend and the sauce thicken.

9. Now add the beans and stir to combine. Transfer everything to the casserole or baking dish, cover (with a lid of aluminum foil), and bake for 1 hour and 40 minutes. You’re supposed to stir occasionally so the beans don’t stick to the bottom. It’s going to burn a little against the sides of the dish because of all the sugar in there, so have a scouring brush ready for clean-up.

10a. Last step! Remove the cover and return the dish to the oven for 20 minutes. If you didn’t drain the beans in a colander or the sauce seems a little thin you can either remove the cover earlier or let the dish bake uncovered longer after the 2 hours of called-for baking are up. This should evaporate more water and thicken the sauce.

10b (because I said “last step” above and didn’t want to lie). Then take the beans out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. They’re perfect with toast or as a side dish for a meat and potatoes (or just potatoes and vegetables) dinner. Toast would be very taboo in Fielding’s books, so enjoy every bite and think of the people who will never eat toast enjoy and how much they’re missing. They’ll think of you when they’re living long happy lives based on green lava.

The upside of the fact that this dish has no pig in it is that you won’t feel that heaviness and fatigue after eating a huge porky brunch, but you may be knocked out from a sugar coma and not feel up to doing the dishes right away. This s fine because you will probably need to let the dish soak to get the burnt sugar off the sides.