Barbecue Baked Beans + Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless GIVEAWAY

This post is brought to you courtesy of our daycare with a random Saturday morning event. This meant a couple hours without our toddler baby. I couldn’t muster the energy to get to the gym (nor have I for the past year) but a relaxing morning creating a long-due blog post was a great idea.

P finds the stove fascinating. First, he would play with the knobs, so we had to remove them. Next, he found a light he could turn on and off. Then he figured out how to turn the timer on and off. Or at least move the dials to have the timer go off randomly. Now, he brings his chairs over to the oven, stands on them and lifts the components of the range. Thus, they are now out of his reach. We can barely use the stove anymore so it was nice to find an oven-only recipe. (Although it is impossible to open a hot oven with P around!)

I have been saving this recipe for too long. It has been a relatively mild winter so far, but this weekend we are receiving lots of snow. It is the perfect time to warm up your house and oven with these simple baked beans. The ingredient list seems a tad unusual (cinnamon and mustard??? with molasses??) but honestly, these were probably the best baked beans I’ve ever made. I prefer them slightly less sweet than written but even if you do the full amount of sugar, these aren’t too sugary, which is my perpetual fear of trying new baked bean recipes.  Cook the beans first in a pressure cooker (or used canned), and this is rather easy as you merely dump everything in a pan and cook it for a while.

This recipe is from Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless which has vegetarian recipes that you only use your oven. I love the concept and there are some great recipes. Salads with roasted vegetables and and main meals like Indian potatoes and spinach with tofu; there are simple but delicious meals. I still want to try the Thai Peanut Granola from the Breakfasts and Brunches section. Due to the nature of some recipes, they seem overly finicky to time the baking temperatures and times perfectly, but most seem reasonable and do-able if you have an accurate timer and don’t need to wrangle your children away from an open oven door.

Here are some recipes from Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless spotted elsewhere:

Blissed Out Crispy Cheesy Broccoli Sheet Pan Gratin

Crispy Roasted Shallot and Lentil Sheet Pan Mujadara

I Can’t Believe It is Mushroom Risotto!

No Boil Mac and Cheese

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to giveaway the cookbook to a reader living in Canada. To be entered in the random draw for the book, please leave a comment below telling me how you are enjoying winter. The winner will be selected at random on February 20, 2018. Good luck!

Barbecue Baked Beans with Mushroom “Lardons”
Reprinted, with permission, from Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless

Author’ note: Sweet and hearty, baked beans over toast is a winter favorite. They’re also great as a side with Hoisin-Glazed Beet Loaf, or with rice or quinoa for a complete protein. The mushrooms here are roasted until they are very tight, browned, and almost chewy. They add a bacon-y quality to the beans—for a little extra smokiness, finish with a pinch of smoked flaky salt. These beans are also a winner sprinkled onto a salad or a pizza.

For the beans

1/4 cup light brown sugar (I prefer this to be 2 tbsp)
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon kosher salt (1/2 tsp is just fine!)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeño chile, stemmed (seeded for reduced heat, if you like) and finely chopped
2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil (such as grapeseed or safflower)
2 cans (15 ounces each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

For the mushroom lardons

8 ounces portobello or shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and caps cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil (such as grapeseed or safflower)
1/2 teaspoon smoked flaky salt (or kosher salt)

1. To make the beans: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position, place a rimmed sheet pan on top, and preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Whisk the brown sugar, molasses, tomato paste, salt, cinnamon, mustard, nutmeg, and pepper in a medium-size bowl.
3. Toss the onion and jalapeño with the vegetable oil in a separate medium-size bowl and turn them out onto the heated sheet pan. Add the brown sugar mixture and beans along with 1 1/4 cups water. Wearing oven mitts, carefully cover the pan with aluminum foil (you may need 2 sheets), crimping it around the edges to seal. Bake until the onion and jalapeño are tender, the sauce is warmed through and bubbling, and the flavors have come together, about 35 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the mushroom lardons: Combine the mushrooms with the vegetable oil on a second rimmed sheet pan and roast in the oven next to the beans, stirring occasionally, until they are very browned and have released all their moisture, 25 to 35 minutes. Sprinkle with the smoked salt and toss to coat.
5. Divide the beans among 4 bowls and serve with the mushroom lardons sprinkled over the top.

Serves 4.

Baked Beans with…

So you just baked up a nice, big sheet pan of beans. Now what? Here are some tasty ways to stretch the protein- and fiber-filled batch throughout the week.

Monday: Baked beans over toast with a side salad

Tuesday: Baked beans and quinoa bowl with avocado, shredded cheese, and cilantro

Wednesday: Baked beans pureed with water, garlic, and rosemary for bean dip

Thursday: Three-bean salad with baked beans, steamed green beans, and chickpeas

Friday: Baked bean and roasted potato hash with a fried egg on top

Saturday/Sunday: Seven-layer bean dip: baked beans, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, salsa, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes

Excerpted from Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless by Raquel Pelzel. Copyright © 2017. Photographs © Ken Carlson. Used with permission of Workman Publishing.