Cupboard Creations - BBQ Beans! 26.01.21

Happy Tuesday!

I hope you're all doing well. I've just come back from our Tuesday prep day and I just love having the time to relax and prepare for Wednesday without the mad rush of Wednesday to get everything done in time to feed all you lovely lot!

This also gives me some time to ease into the week, inbetween two Zoom pilates lessons - decided to do two days a week and it has really helped me unwind and focus for Wednesdays (check out Pilates with Ayla if you're into it, my wonderful sister who also helps on a Wednesday has started her own business, I think it's in the family, we just can't sit still!)

This week was filled with snow (sort-of... for some...) so I wanted some winter warmers (and I take any excuse to cosy up in a blanket with dinner!) and one of the meals this week is a Sausage, Bacon and BBQ Bean stew with Jacket potato and veggies. I decided to write down the BBQ Beans recipe because it is a great cupboard creation, you can use it for a base for a stew (as I am doing this week), you can have it as a breakfast dish (think full english or beans on toast), and you can adapt the recipe depending on what you have at hand!


BBQ Beans

You will need

  • 1 Onion (red or white)

  • 2/3 Cloves of Garlic

  • 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

  • 3 tins of beans (I used 1 tin of kidney beans, 1 of baked beans and one of butterbeans, but you can use whatever combination of beans you have!)

  • 1 TBSP Dijon Mustard (optional)

  • 2 TBSP Paprika, Cumin & Mixed Herbs

  • 2 TBSP Maple Syrup, honey or brown sugar

  • 2 TBSP Red wine or Balsamic Vinegar

  • 4/5 TBSP BBQ Sauce (to taste)

  • Oil to fry with

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • Saucepan

Method

  1. Slice or dice your onions (I prefer sliced for texture but this is personal preference) and crush your garlic and place into a bowl.

  2. Get your saucepan onto a medium heat and pour in around 3TBSP of your oil.

  3. Once your oil is starting to heat up, add in your onions and garlic and slowly fry off until the onions start to get a bit of colour on them (not too much! Around 3/5 minutes)

  4. Next add in your paprika, cumin and mixed herbs and stir this into your onions. Fry this off for around 2 minutes to get the flavour toasted off.

  5. Add in your maple syrup, vinegar and mustard and stir into your onions until coated (you may want to add another spoon of oil at this stage if the mixture seems to be catching to the pan).

  6. Finally, add in your chopped tomatoes, all of your tins of beans, your BBQ sauce and leave to simmer for 10/15 minutes on a low heat (keeping an eye to make sure it doesn't catch on the pan)

  7. Season to taste and serve! These beans will keep for 2/3 days in a container in the fridge, perfect for batch cooking for minimal effort!


Why not...

  • Play around with your spices? Add a bit of chipotle chilli sauce if you're brave enough!

  • Add some protein - bacon bbq beans anyone? Serve this on top of mash potato for a hearty dinner!

  • Use this for the base of a baked breakfast! Spread your beans into frying pan with a lid. Heat this up with 2TBSP water. Reduce the heat to medium/low and make a little well in the bean mixture. Place a raw egg into this well (I suggest cracking into a ramekin first) place your lid on and cook the eggs until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny (around 4-6 minutes) and serve!


I hope you enjoy! Let me know if you make this or use this for any other recipes!

Tia