Well, we made a few tweaks to the meat eater’s version of Boston Baked Beans (which used the traditional salt pork) and worked out a vegan version. Actually, we found that very few tweaks were necessary. These involved the amount of molasses used, extra virgin olive oil, additional cooking of the onions (to substitute flavor that had been in the salt pork) and adjusting the temperature & baking time (to give a little extra margin of protection between the oven temp. and the smoke point of the olive oil).
And something really nice happened .. these beans, in addition to being healthier to than their cholesterol laden cousins, actually tasted better. A very nice win-win situation. Anyways, here goes:
Shopping List:
- 1/2 Cup of Organic Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Medium Organic Onions
- 2 Tablespoons of Full Flavored Prepared Organic Mustard
- 1 Tablespoon of Organic Grade A Amber Maple Syrup
- 1 Teaspoon of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons of Sea Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon of Organic Black Pepper
- 1/2 Cup Organic Molasses
- Up to 9 Cups of Spring Water (we found that we actually needed 7 Cups .. but your results may vary if your evaporation rates/oven temperatures are different)
- 2 1/2 Cups of Dried Organic Navy Beans
Recipe:
- Place your oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 290F.
- Wash and sort 2 1/2 Cups of Navy Beans. Carefully seek out and remove all stones and funky looking beans. Be careful in doing this since you can be hurt by eating rocks.
- Add 1/2 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to a Metallic Dutch Oven.
- Place the Metallic Dutch Oven with the Olive Oil on Medium Heat.
- Dice 2 Medium Onions & place into the Metallic Dutch Oven.
- Cook the onions and stir occasionally. Cook until they are just starting to turn brown in spots. We want the onions cooked this way to give a little extra umph to the flavor.
- Add 2 Tablespoons of Prepared Mustard to the Dutch Oven.
- Add 1 Tablespoon of Maple Syrup to the Dutch Oven.
- Add 1 Teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar to the Dutch Oven.
- Add 1 1/2 Teaspoons of Sea Salt to the Dutch Oven.
- Add 1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper to the Dutch Oven.
- Add 1/2 Cup of Molasses to the Dutch Oven.
- Stir together to combine.
- Add the 2 1/2 Cups of Washed and Sorted Beans to the Metallic Dutch Oven.
- Add enough spring water to cover the beans but also leave enough room so that you can transfer the beans without the water sloshing out of the Dutch Oven (when you are transferring to the Pre-heated Oven).
- Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Place the lid on the Dutch Oven and carefully transfer the Dutch Oven to the Pre-heated Oven. If you cannot safely do this DON’T… you can get severely burned by the boiling water. Also make sure that there are no pets or children around to interfere or get close to you. You do not want to severely burn you or them….(it only takes a millisecond to get severely burned don’t do this if you cannot do this with complete safety).
- Bake for approximately 6 hours until the beans are tender. During the baking process try to keep about 1/2 – 1″ of water above the beans. You’ll need to check the beans periodically while baking and add additional water as necessary. Needless to say you can get burned while doing this so wear protective gloves and be very careful.
- Once the 6 hours are done remove the beans from the oven and set on the stove (on a back burner where they are out of reach of small children is best).
- Just let the beans sit on the unheated burner until sufficiently cooled for eating or for transfer into the refrigerator.
- Add any additional salt and pepper to taste when serving.
One of the things I love about these beans are that they have none of that gross congealed fat when you take them out of the frig for reheating. The salt pork version has all these little cholesterol pods of fat floating around..no thanks (but if it’s your thing who am I to judge?). Anyway enjoy.
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