Sweet and Smoky Baked Beans

Happy September! 

Work is still pretty crazy but it will chill out in a few weeks. My mind is easing into its happy creative place...I love cooking this time of year...once the air changes. I think I get more of a sense of renewal in the fall than in the spring and it's a great feeling. Even though I haven't been publishing many recipes as of late I am doing lots of cooking and experimenting on my days off so it will come. 

Right now the food/recipes that I am working on are those that I would serve if I had a vegan cafe. A recipe is usually "complete" for me if I think to myself...."that would be on my menu". These baked beans definitely would be.

I like these baked beans best with the oatmeal brown bread recipe on my blog. I made this most recent batch without the bread and was REALLY missing it. It's the combination of the two things. They elevate each other. So, go ahead and make these beans without the brown bread...but I don't plan to skip it ever again. (or perhaps I would go for a really good bakery bought brown bread) 

Pictured below I created a little brunch plate. Slow roasted tomatoes, vegan bacon, and some arugula with a bright balsamic vinaigrette. Next time I'd probably go with vegan sausage instead of the bacon, and if I was going next level I'd do a tofu scramble and probably enjoy a mimosa or two while I ate. 

In this recipe I use three different ingredients to give the baked beans their "smoky flavour". Liquid smoke, chipotle in adobo & smoked paprika. My logic is that it will give the final dish more complexity than if I just used one of the ingredients. This was an easy choice because I always have these things on hand. If I didn't, I probably would try to make it work with whatever I had. It's not too difficult to tweak a recipe like this to your individual taste. I might try reducing the sweetness next time and see how that goes. While these are delicious as is I'm not a fan of consuming a lot of sugar, so if I could get away with less even better. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried white beans
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• a pinch or two of chili flakes
• 1 can whole tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup maple
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp liquid smoke
• 2 tsp chipotle in adobo sauce **
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp salt (start with, then add more to taste at the end if desired)

​** I buy cans of chipotle in adobo sauce, puree the contents, and keep it in a jar in the fridge for adding to recipes.

Method:

1. Soak beans overnight in water, or use the quick soak method. Just cover beans with water in a pot, bring to a boil, shut off the heat and let sit for 1 hour. Strain the beans and set aside.
2. In a large pot sauté onion, garlic and chili flakes in a bit of veg oil. 
3. Add in tomatoes, (I use my hands to crush whole tomatoes into chunks...I do this carefully because tomato will go everywhere otherwise) 
4. Add remainder of ingredients, bring to a simmer.
5. Place in 350F oven. I baked mine for 4 hours, checking half way through. It's possible you'll need to add a splash more water at some point if everything has reduced and thickened before the beans are softened. (some ovens undoubtedly run hotter than others) 
6. Ideally, serve them with homemade oatmeal brown bread and whatever other sides you'd like.