Vegan Baked Beans - The Buddhist Chef


Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy-free

Meal Type
Breakfast
Cuisine
Vegan
Author
thebuddhistchef.com
Serves
4
Preparation Time
12-24hours
Cooking Time
4 hours

Ingredients

  • 2 cups navy beans (cannellini)
  • 1 medium onion, sliced ( or use cabbage)
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2-3 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp mustard powder (1tbsp Dijon)
  • 2 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 Tbsp miso paste
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Black Pepper to taste
  • 3-5 cups water

Instructions

Super-Lazy - Pressure Cooker Method

  1. I strongly suggest soaking the beans for 6-8 hours or overnight, but if you have a small handful of hours, solar power and or forgot to soak them the night before - it will just take 3-4 rounds in the pressure cooker instead of 1...
  2. Add the vegetable oil and onions or cabbage to the pressure cooker, saute until browned (a little char is awesome)
  3. Add the remaining ingredients except beans and water and mix really well (mostly the miso).
  4. Add the beans, stir.
  5. Add the water - if you pre soaked you need 2-3 cups less if you soaked for longer... If you didn't soak at all you will need 4 cups and be willing to add a cornstarch slurry and saute again at the end to reach desired consistency.
  6. Set cooker to "beans" or 20-25minutes, whatever works on your machine.
  7. You can allow the cooker to release pressure on its own, or, you can vent the steam and assess if you need more cooking (beans), or more or less liquid (add, continue cooking with or without utilising pressure).
  8. Enjoy sweet barbeque style 'baked' beans.

Traditional Method

  1. Soak the beans in water for 12 to 24 hours at room temperature. Rinse and drain.
  2. Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C).
  3. In a cast iron skillet or a ovenproof Dutch oven heat the oil, add onion and sauté 5 minutes.
  4. Add molasses, maple syrup, mustard powder, tomato paste, miso, salt and pepper. Mix well.
  5. Add drained beans and water.
  6. Bring to a boil, cover with foil and bake for 3 to 4 hours or until the beans are tender.
  7. If the beans are no tender at this point, add more water and continue cooking.

Notes

  • My Husband loved these, I made them on St Patricks day along with a host of other vegan versions of traditional classics... I thought they were too sweet, I think I will try replacing the molasses and maple syrup with either just maple or half total volume in golden syrup with some vanilla essence, or even some unsweetened apple sauce? see how they turn out. Very much a barbeque rather than a tomato base.
  • They take 3-4 hours in the oven to cook, so I will endeavour to cook them in the pressure cooker instead, should save time, electricity and mean it doesn't have to be winter to enjoy them.
  • Made these with cabbage instead of onion and used a pressure cooker for my mother, it worked really well, so I added the method.
  • I really have loved every recipe i have tried from the buddhist chef, but I am swiftly arriving at the conclusion that just as double cream in britain is called thickened cream here, there may also be differences in potency between Australia and Canadian ingredients, definitely liquid smoke is twice as strong here, but possibly the molasses is more intense as well.