Fixing baked beans from scratch in your crock-pot is at once cheap and easy.  But, not everyone can tolerate tomato products.

Tomatoes can aggravate my daughter’s GERD, some people believe that eating them can trigger an arthritis flare, and others are simply allergic to them.

So, I came up with a tomato-free version of our baked bean recipe that is just as simple to prepare and just as tasty.

Ingredients:

4 cups dried beans – navy, pinto, or great northern
1.5 cup brown sugar
4 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP onion powder
1 TBSP garlic powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt *

10 cups water

Directions:

Sort beans to remove any stones, and rinse well.

In a large mixing bowl, add all ingredients, and mix well to incorporate.

Pour bean mixture into a 6 qt. crock-pot.  Add water making sure to cover bean mixture.

Cook on high setting for 2 hours, then reduce heat to low and cook for at least 12 hours, or until tender.

The beans will seem much too thin when they are first done cooking.  They will thicken as they sit and cool.

Serving:

We love baked beans in the summer. As a side dish, they seem to go with everything from burgers & hot dogs to grilled chicken or even ribs.  They are especially delicious drizzled hot on top of a scoop of cold potato salad (trust us on this one).

But, baked beans with a side of cornbread and a tossed salad is also a perfectly acceptable dinner.

If serving this at a bar-b-que, consider also making some tomato salad and chickpea salad (and maybe even making your own BBQ sauce if you really want to impress your guests).

Variations:

• For health and budget reasons we tend to stick to vegetarian baked beans.  If you prefer to season yours with meat you may add 1 lb of chopped bacon (or 1 lb of browned ground beef) to the bottom of the crock-pot before adding the bean mixture.

Adapted from:

Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker

You might also enjoy:

400 Barbecues: Sizzling summer recipes for barbecues, grills, griddles, marinades, rubs, sauces and side dishes, with more than 1500 step-by-step stunning photographs

America’s Best BBQ: 100 Recipes from America’s Best Smokehouses, Pits, Shacks, Rib Joints, Roadhouses, and Restaurants

Image: Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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