Almost Old-Fashioned Baked Beans

Canadian baked beans have come a long way from their ancestral origins in old Québec, where huge pots of navy beans were cooked for seven or eight hours with little more than salt pork and molasses, enough to feed enormous families. Onions, mustard and ketchup add a comforting tang to these pork-free baked beans that take far less time to cook and yield a much more manageable amount — a new, vegetarian-friendly comfort food tradition for modern families. Any white bean can be used in this recipe, but I prefer to use a mixture of navy beans and white kidney beans.

What is Canadian food, you might rightly ask. Well, whatever you can cook up in your kitchen with ingredients available to you, complete with requisite imagination. But I recall that maple syrup is an abundant luxury here, and that the birth of Nanaimo bars and butter tarts are patriotic fodder for us Canucks.

Almost Old-Fashioned Baked Beans

Recipe by Lisa Turner Cuisine: Canadian Published on June 28, 2008 A simple vegetarian version of traditional Canadian baked beans with a little modern update from onions, mustard and ketchup Preparation: 5 minutes Cooking time: 3 hours 30 minutes Print this recipe Ingredients: 2 cups dried white beans (navy and/or cannellini) 2 medium onions, chopped 1/4 cup black molasses 1/4 cup ketchup 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard powder 1 teaspoon sea salt fresh ground black pepper Instructions: Rinse the beans and soak for 8 hours or overnight in water. Drain and rinse, then transfer to a large saucepan and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the beans are soft but not falling apart. Remove from heat and drain, saving a little of the cooking liquid. Preheat an oven at 350°. Combine the beans with all the other ingredients in a large baking or casserole dish with a lid. Cover and bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until the beans have reached the desired thickness, stirring every half an hour or so. Add a teaspoon or so of the reserved cooking liquid if the beans become too dry. Makes 6 to 8 servings