RECIPES: 3 ways to make a can of baked beans less boring

Bean salad. Picture: Supplied

Bean salad. Picture: Supplied

Published Mar 2, 2023

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Baked beans don’t have to be boring or time consuming.

If you are stocked up on canned beans but don’t know how to use them then you have come to the right place.

These easy methods make canned beans taste like you laboured over them all day long.

Loaded with the flavours of garlic, onion, and spices, these are perfect to compliment your favourite dish or as a filling in a main dish.

Bean salad. Picture: Suppllied

Bean salad

Ingredients

1 packet green beans

1 can baked beans

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

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.

Recipe by Pick n Pay.

Baked beans winter brekky. Picture: Supplied

Baked beans winter brekky

Ingredients

1 brown onion, finely chopped

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.

Recipe by Melissa Goddard.

Tavče Gravče. Picture: Supplied

Tavče Gravče

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 cup dry white beans

½ teaspoon baking soda

3 onions, sliced

3 red onions, sliced

4 garlic cloves

2 green chilli peppers, finely chopped

2 red bell peppers, sliced

2 yellow bell peppers, sliced

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp chilli 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 chilli pepper. Pour the beans and ⅓ of chilli 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 chilli 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 chilli 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.

Recipe by Vera Abitbol.