• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Ricki Heller

Ricki Heller

A healthy lifestyle can be sweet!

  • Home
  • Cookbooks
    • Living Candida-Free
    • Naturally Sweet and Gluten-Free
    • Holiday Desserts (Sugar-free, Gluten-free, Egg-free, Dairy-free)
    • Sweet Favorites, Candida-Free!
    • Top 12: Favorite Candida Diet Stage 1 Recipes
    • Breakfast Freedom Ebook
    • Good Morning! Breakfasts Digital Cookbook (second edition!)
    • Living Candida-Free Sampler Digital Cookbook
    • Sweet Freedom Ebook
    • A Sweet Life Thanksgiving Digital Cookbook
    • All Cookbooks
  • Work with me
    • HOLIDAY FEASTING CLASS
    • Sugar Freedom Workshop
    • Coaching on Call!
  • Candida FAQ
  • Index
    • Recipes, Health Articles & Videos
    • Shopping List
    • Ingredients and Substitutions
  • About
  • Press
  • Contact

Flash in the Pan: Baked Beans Nested on Greens

by Ricki Heller 16 Comments

I’ve decided to offer a mini-post every once in a while, for a dish that comes together incredibly quickly, or else is so easy to make that no recipe is required.  Here’s today’s “Flash in the Pan.”]

[Oh, and before I continue:  notice the photo?  Notice anything different?  Um, like, actual detail on the food?  Well, this here is my very first shot with my new, stunningly beautiful, too-complex-for-my-current-level-of-knowledge, can’t-believe-how-heavy-this-thing-is, smashing and awesome and really, you shouldn’t have but I LOVE IT camera!  It was my birthday gift from The HH last week, and  I am thrilled to bits with it! (I can’t wait to actually learn how to use it.) 😉  For now, I’m still learning, so please excuse the awkward and unretouched photos that may appear here for a while. . . but wow, just look at those beans!!]

My friend The Architect married his highschool sweetheart this past weekend. Well, not literally.  You see, they didn’t actually know each other in high school. However, she teaches high school, and she’s also his sweetheart; so, close enough.  As both of them are extremely involved in environmental issues and preserving the local habitat, the wedding was an elegant event in a bucolic setting just north of where we live.  And, true to form, the ceremony was outdoors, amid the towering maples and the burbling streams and the chattering squirrels.  Oh, and the pelting rain and the occasional snowflake and the sodden leaves being torn from the trees and whipping across our faces path.  Because, you see, it was late October.  In CANADA.  (Let’s just say, I wore earmuffs to the ceremony).*

Still, it was a joyful, enjoyable affair and the HH and I ate, drank, and danced like it was 1999.  After so much weekend revelry, I decided I wanted something simple for dinner yesterday.

Now, it’s possible I’ve mentioned before that I am basically a lazy cook.  Extremely lazy.  And, as I (now) do with chickpeas for the occasional mock tuna salad, I also tend to keep cans of baked beans on hand for those occasional evenings when I crave their sweet, soft, quick and filling nourishment.

I didn’t even realize there existed specifically vegan baked beans until I was an undergrad in university, when I first lived (and cooked) on my own. Because my mother was an unacknowledged vegetarian herself, the only kind of baked beans she ever used were the “in tomato sauce” flavor (naturally vegan). In university, however, my room mate was the grocery shopper.  One week, I requested canned baked beans, and she brought home the bacon beans.  I opened the can in anticipation of my usual leguminous fulfillment.  What I encountered, instead, was a single cube of pasty, greyish-white, gelatinous pork fat.  At first, I couldn’t imagine what it was, but then I read the label and. . . wow, you wouldn’t believe how those saucy beans stick to the inside of the garbage can.

I love to eat baked beans just as they are, with a plump spelt bagel torn into pieces that I use to sop up the sauce.  The Nurse doctors hers up with kethcup, mustard, maple syrup, corn kernels (!) and hot dogs (blech); the CFO makes hers from scratch (also vegan, but that’s just a coincidence).  Lately, I’ve been trying to eat greens every day, so I thought about combining the beans with something dark and leafy.  As it happened, my mind was already on steamed greens since I read about kale boiled in stock on Orangette (but 30 minutes?  Molly, is that really necessary?) and Sally’s latest post on Beans and Greens.  I figured, why not use up some chard I had in the house?  Molly served her kale with eggs; and don’t those beans have a naturally ovoid shape?  It was meant to be(an).

You won’t believe how easy this dish is.  I loved the textural contrast of the beans’ exterior firmness and slightly creamy interior, set against the soft yet springy chard; the sweet-smoky bean sauce and the astringent bitterness of the greens, in every bite.  Of course, you could also simply toss the two ingredients together, but those beans look so much more jewel-like when nestled sweetly inside the wreath of chard, don’t you think? A perfect way to follow up that weekend of celebrations.

I’ll be away visiting the CFO this weekend, so I’m going to miss all the Halloween fun!  However, thanks to the magic of WordPress, I do have a Halloween-inspired post for y’all over the weekend.

Have fun Trick or Treating, everyone!

Baked Beans Nested on Greens

1 large bunch of your favorite leafy greens, washed, trimmed, sliced thin (chop and use stems if possible)

about 1/2 cup vegetable stock, any type

1 can of your favorite baked beans (or homemade if you have them), heated through

Heat the broth in a nonstick frypan or dutch oven over medium heat. Place the stips of greens over the liquid, press down to cover as much as possible, and cover the pan or pot.  Reduce heat to low, and cook the greens until just wilted, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the beans according to the directions on the can.  Arrange the greens in a wreath on a plate, and gently spoon the hot beans in the center for a nested effect.  Eat.  Makes 2 servings.  (Quick.  Easy. Tasty.  So simple, a little birdy could almost make it.)

Never miss a recipe–or a comment from The Girls! Click here to subscribe to RickiHeller.com via email. You’ll get recipes as soon as they’re posted, plus cookbook updates and news about upcoming events! (“We love subscribers, Mum. . . almost as much as we love treats!”)

“Mum, the beans look okay, but if that little birdy isn’t doing anything else, you know we’d be happy to, um, dispose of it for you. . . ”

* Let’s also just say, I want to move to California.  Or New South Wales.  Or the Bahamas.  But no, I’m stuck here, where I wore earmuffs, on October 26th.  The older I get, the more I realize: comfort trumps fashion, every time.  And–why, yes, I do believe this marks the official launch of my “the weather is too cold I hate it I have to move away from here somebody save me” winter weather whingeing.  And–lucky you!–it continues unabated, for the next 6 months!

[Disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links. If you buy using these links, at no cost to you, I will earn a small commission from the sale.]

Tweet
Pin It
Share

Filed Under: beans and legumes, blog event, entrees, flash in the pan, recipes, reminiscences, side dishes, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetables Tagged: baked beans, beans, chard, dairy free, dinner, easy, egg free, entree, greens, quick, recipe, recipes, vegan, vegetarian, wheat-free

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. VeggieGirl says

    October 30, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    FAAAABULOUS new camera shots, Ricki!! And fabulous beans & greens dish as well 🙂

    Reply
  2. Courtney says

    October 30, 2008 at 5:33 pm

    I love beans and greens too :o) They look great!

    Courtney

    Reply
  3. maggie says

    October 30, 2008 at 5:53 pm

    Yes, yes, move to California! It’s great here 🙂

    Reply
  4. Joanna says

    October 30, 2008 at 5:58 pm

    it’s been too long since i’ve had baked beans. we have so many cans of them in the house, but none are vegan/vegetarian. i guess i need to make my own.

    i hope the wedding was fun! i just love wedding food haha

    Reply
  5. Meghan Telpner says

    October 30, 2008 at 6:04 pm

    This does look great… and so simple. Adding it to the list. And my goodness didn’t the temperature just drop. Rumour has it will be warm tomorrow. Enjoy every minute!

    Reply
  6. Johanna says

    October 30, 2008 at 6:08 pm

    how exciting to have a new camera – will be great for your cookbook! Your photos look great!

    I did see the kale with egg but never thought to add beans – great idea – I love beans for lazy nights too – E loves them with a bit of herbs and tabasco but I like them plain on toast.

    Oh and I think I will be whinging just as much about our coming hot weather as you will about the cold – seems the grass is always greener!

    Reply
  7. stilllifeinbuenosaires says

    October 30, 2008 at 6:08 pm

    I’ve be(an) thinking about beans a lot recently. Chard is quite popular here. I’ll try it.

    Throw in Molly’s eggs and you might be able to call this an English breakfast.

    Reply
  8. River (Wing-It Vegan) says

    October 30, 2008 at 8:19 pm

    “Comfort trumps fashion”. Wise words, Ricky, wise words!
    Check out you and your new camera and your fabulous bean shot! Work it… work it! (Remember? From Pretty Woman?… no?)
    Have a super fun weekend and Happy Halloween to you too! 🙂

    Reply
  9. Maggie says

    October 30, 2008 at 8:40 pm

    I’ve been having an urge to make homemade baked beans. I like them sticky and not saucy but I bet they would be equally great on greens. Gotta give it a try!

    Reply
  10. Vegan_noodle says

    October 30, 2008 at 9:50 pm

    It is a beautiful photo!! Oh how fun to have a new camera. But more importantly… happy belated birthday!!!

    Reply
  11. Celine says

    October 31, 2008 at 2:03 am

    hooray for a new camera!!

    Reply
  12. mihl says

    October 31, 2008 at 7:09 am

    Even your mini-posts are so dedicated! The picture with the new camera looks great, as does the dish!

    Reply
  13. BitterSweet says

    October 31, 2008 at 12:34 pm

    Nice shots! What sort of camera did you get?

    Reply
  14. Andrea says

    November 1, 2008 at 1:29 pm

    It’s been sunny and close to 70 the last couple of days and will go into the 70s next week. You could move to Wisconsin. (laugh. laugh.) I mean, it’s entirely possible (even likely) that we won’t have 100 inches of snow again this year.

    I’ve been drooling over new cameras for a long time. Can’t seem to make up my mind what to get. What did you get?

    Reply
  15. Sally Parrott Ashbrook says

    November 5, 2008 at 11:14 am

    Gorgeous job on the photo! I took Digital 101 at a local photography school after I had my DSLR for a while, and I do not regret it. (In fact, I’m in 102 now.) Learning how to use the various functions definitely makes the camera worth the money.

    Reply
  16. veganhomemade says

    November 11, 2008 at 9:27 pm

    Beans and greens are good together in any combo. Your dish looks great! The picture is fantastic too, nice work.

    I like sliced veggie dogs in baked beans sometimes. You can’t deny the goodness!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi! I'm Ricki, cookbook author, professional recipe developer, holistic nutritionist and anti-candida crusader. Let me show you how easy it is to eat plant-based, sugar-free, gluten free food that tastes great!

[read more about Ricki...]

As seen on…

Categories

Become a Patron!

Ricki Heller

Footer

  • Home
  • About Ricki
  • Cookbooks
  • Candida FAQ
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure Policy

Copyright © 2022 · RICKIHELLER.COM

Subscribe to our emails and grab your FREE bonus guide, "3 Simple Shifts to Stick with it Right Now!"
The holidays are coming & The Sweet Life can help. Join the waitlist!