Bean there, done that!

It was a dark and windy night. I had meant to go shopping on Saturday morning so that I could try out some new recipes on the weekend. For various reasons I didn’t get to the shops. I had got home at six pm from a quiet afternoon (a sort of mini retreat) feeling refreshed, and wanting to cook.

My first thought was to just make some pasta and cheese sauce – quick and simple. But I was aware of getting behind on my cooking challenge. So I browsed through the Budget Beaters recipe book to see if there was anything I could make with what was already in the cupboard. I came up with a few options and ended up making something called Cheesy Beans.

Now I am not a huge fan of baked beans. It is not that I dislike them as such, I just don’t particularly like them. But I know it is the sort of food that is good for one and should be eaten occasionally.  I have come to realise that I don’t mind beans in something, but ma unlikely to eat them plain. Beans on toast does not appeal.

This recipe called for adding cooked onion, garlic and tomato to the beans, sprinkling grated cheese and parsley on top and serving on rice. I did not have onions, tomatoes, garlic or parsley in the pantry, but figured I could use what I had to adapt the recipe.

In the end it was probably quite different to the original recipe – but it was not bad. And had the advantage of being quick and easy. The longest part was cooking the rice. But I did other things while that was going on, and cooked a large pot so I now have rice for the next recipe I try. I noticed that several of the recipes in this book call for cooked rice. Well, now I am ready for them.

I used one tin of baked beans in tomato sauce, to which I added half a tin of tomato-onion mix. I stirred in a sprinkle of mixed herbs and heated it all on the stove. Once done I scooped half the mixture onto a bowl of rice and topped with grated cheese (something which improves most meals:). This part of the process took less than five minutes.

My reaction was not exactly Oh Yum! Rather a matter of “Ho Hum”. This is not going to become a favourite recipe, but it was a pleasant enough, functional meal. And I was quite happy to heat up the leftovers for supper on Sunday. Quick, inexpensive and nourishing, this is the way I will prepare baked beans in the future. At least until I find another interesting recipe hidden in one of the many books on my shelf.