Microwaved White Beans Boston-Baked Style

Wednesday is Recipe Day at Cooking Manager.

The twenty-minute kid-friendly dinner challenge is turning out harder than I expected. I haven’t had much time on the computer lately to look for recipes, but the biggest question is, what is your definition of kid-friendly? Could it include beans or lentils? Cooked vegetables? Does everything need to be in tiny pieces?

This microwave recipe for baked beans takes less than twenty minutes only if you prepare the beans in advance. Preparation time is short.

White Beans Boston-Baked Style

Source: The Well-Filled Microwave Cookbook, Victoria Wise and Susanna Hoffman.

These instructions are for the microwave, but you can easily adapt it to the stove or crockpot.

Ingredients:

• 1-½ cups dried small white beans
• 10 cups water
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1/2 cup molasses (substitute honey, maple syrup, dark corn syrup, or 6 tablespoons brown sugar)
• 1/4 cup prepared mustard
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

Note: If you have cooked beans on hand, start with step three.

1. If you haven’t soaked the beans in advance, place them in a large bowl with 4 cups water. Microwave on HIGH for 12 minutes or until boiling. Set aside to soak for 30 minutes.
2. Drain and rinse the beans. Return them to the bowl, along with onion and remaining six cups of water. Cover and microwave on HIGH for 30 minutes, or until soft. (Larger beans may take 40 minutes.) Let stand for 5 minutes, or until tender. Remove and discard the onion.
3. Drain the beans. Return the beans to the bowl and stir in the rest of the ingredients (all but the water, beans and onion, if you have cooked beans already). Cover and microwave on HIGH for 15 minutes, or until thick and bubbling. Serve right away.

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Photo Credit: The Edinburgh Blog