Boston Baked Beans

For many, baked beans are a must-have for any picnic or family get-together. In this sure-to-please recipe, tender navy beans are flavored with bits of onions and covered in a rich and tangy sauce enhanced with molasses. Traditionally, Boston baked beans are made by slowly cooking the sauce-covered beans in a low-temperature oven for several hours. Low temp … long hours—sound familiar? That’s exactly what a slow cooker does! Reprinted with permission from The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Vegan Slow-cooking by Beverly Bennett (Alpha Books, 2012).

Makes 8 to 9 cups

• 1 pound (about 2¹⁄₄ cups) dried navy beans, sorted and rinse
• 2 cups yellow onions, diced
• ³⁄₄ cup ketchup
• ¹⁄₄ cup blackstrap molasses
• ¹⁄₄ cup light brown or muscovado sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 teaspoon dry mustard, or 2 tablespoons
  spicy brown or Dijon mustard
• 4 cups water
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Hot pepper sauce

Place beans in a large pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, and boil for 2 minutes. Cover, remove from heat, and set aside to soak for 1 hour. Drain navy beans in a colander, and discard soaking liquid.

In a medium or large slow cooker, combine yellow onions, presoaked navy beans, ketchup, blackstrap molasses, light brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, chili powder, nutritional yeast flakes, and dry mustard. Pour in water.

Cover and cook on low for 7 or 8 hours or until navy beans are tender.

Taste and season with sea salt, black pepper, and hot pepper sauce. Serve hot, cold, or at room temperature.

Variation: You can also prepare these baked beans with Great Northern beans. For Creole Baked Beans, add 2 roughly chopped Seitan Chorizo Sausages (recipe in Chapter 11); 1 large green bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, and diced; and 1 medium jalapeño pepper, ribs and seeds removed, and finely diced.

• Here are more vegan slow-cooker recipes.