When I was a poor vegan student, baked beans were an absolute staple for me (realistically, they were always a staple, I love baked bean jaffles as a kid!), and luckily for me they are a great source of protein because at the time I was uneducated about nutrition and ate very little protein.
Fast forward a few years and I realised how much sugar and thickeners were in baked beans and instead of giving them up I decided to work on my own recipe that tasted just as good as store bought baked beans. Over the years I've tweaked this recipe to get to the one that follows, which I can safely say is one of my favourite recipes and is loved by my whole family. And I love how much they love it because I know they're eating veggies they normally wouldn't eat and are getting a great hit of protein, magnesium, iron, zinc and complex carbohydrates.
I generally double this recipe and keep half for breakfasts for the week and the other half for more hectic weeks when I don't have time to cook.
I hope you enjoy my hidden veggies baked beans. x Renee
INGREDIENTS
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 2 tbs reduced salt tomato paste
- 1 tin diced tomato, no added salt
- 2 tins navy beans, drained and rinsed well
- ½ tsp dried thyme or marjoram
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbs ACV (apple cider vinegar)
- pepper to taste
- ½ zucchini grated
- 2 handfuls baby spinach or other leafy green, roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbs olive oil
METHOD
- Heat the olive oil over a low flame, add onion and cook until translucent, around 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste, tinned tomato, thyme/marjoram, oregano, ACV, pepper and zucchini, combine well and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes.
- Add the leafy greens, then allow to cool for a minute. Puree the mixture using a stick mixer, or by adding to a food processor. Place back in the pan, add the navy beans and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Will be good for in the coldest part of your fridge for up to 5 days, or can be frozen for up to 3 months.
