BACON & TOMATO BAKED BEANS

Do you have someone in your life who thinks that a meal is not really complete without ample amounts of meat in it? My boyfriend Chris is such a person and it aggravates me so much, particularly when I was going through my various failed attempts at being a vegetarian.  Whenever Chris comes home from work at night, he opens the apartment door and smells the kitchen air expectantly to see if meat made the dinner menu. It’s infuriating! I do understand that we all need meat, or at least need the protein and particularly iron that we get from meat products. I just don’t see why I have to cook it every meal. Last night I was running late to see a dear friend and needed to whip up dinner fast. Homemade baked beans seemed like a simple, no-fuss touch. The preparation time was minimal and I threw all the ingredients in a frying pan and left it to stew and become flavourful for 30 minutes. For something so modest, the beans tasted smoky, slightly spicy and delicious.

INGREDIENTS

• 100g weight watchers or low-fat bacon, fat removed, cut into small cubes
• 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
• 1 teaspoon grape seed oil
• 1 x 400g tin of red kidney beans
• 1 x 400g tin of mexican chilli beans 
• 1 x 810g tin of diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup water 
• 2 tablespoons honey 
• sea salt & black pepper
• Optional - chopped fresh parsley to serve 

COOKING 

1. Heat oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium heat and add onion & garlic. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until onion has softened. Add bacon pieces, beans, tomatoes, honey and water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally so that beans do not stick to the pan. Remove from heat and season with sea salt, pepper and fresh chopped parsley if you desire. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 7 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 40 minutes 

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