Does it seem that I have been posting mostly vegetarian meals lately?
That’s because I don’t post everything we cook here.
When we have steak and a salad, it doesn’t seem post worthy unless its something a bit out of the box.
What is post worthy? In my opinion something you might not have considered cooking before.
So that could be these Tuscan Baked Beans we made on Sunday.
We served them with grilled pork chops and a crisp green salad.
So satisfied all concerns here (gluten free, vegetarian adaptable, and meat for the carnivores).
Most families don’t eat beans. Is it because their children are suspicious of them?.
We assumed that we would have to coax our kids to eat them.
So we sneaked them into meals when the kids were young.
If I made lentil soup, we called them lentils not beans.
We would spread re-fried black beans into burritos and tacos.
Puree them into soups.
Turns out we didn’t need to. They like beans, no problem.
With a veggie girl in the house thank goodness! (Otherwise what the heck would we feed her?).
She would happily munch on vegetables and beans almost every day of the week.
That encourages us to include them in more of our meals.
Dried beans do take a little more effort to get to the table.
So worth it though, they just taste better and have a nicer texture than the canned version.
You can do the quick soak, takes about an hour, perhaps still a Sunday recipe for most.
If you are the planner type of cook, just chuck them into a pot covered by 2 inches of water overnight.
I did the quick soak and prepared the rest of the recipe at the same time.
Then popped it into the oven until done.

Tuscan Baked Beans
1 package dried organic great northern beans
7 cups water
4 sage leaves
4 sprigs fresh rosemary divided
1 large white onion, peeled, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 plum tomatoes chopped
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Crumb Topping
2 cups panko bread crumbs (I used gluten free panko)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp salt and pepper

Soak beans for up to 8 hours or quick soak method (below)
Drain and rinse beans discard soaking water
Add beans and water to large oven proof pot
Set heat to high, add 4 sage leaves, 2 sprigs rosemary
Bring to boil then reduce heat to medium, place cover partially over pot to vent steam
Cook 40-50 minutes
In another pot heat oil on medium add onions
Cook until soft 5-7 minutes, add garlic, cook 1 minute
Add tomatoes and rosemary, salt and pepper
Cook 10 minutes, turn off heat until beans are done
Stir tomatoes into beans
Add crumb topping
Place pot into 375 degree oven
bake until top is golden and bubbly around edges, approximately 20 minutes

Quick Soak for Beans
Rinse and sort bean, add to pot covering with 2 inches of water
Bring to boil, boil for 1 minute, let sit 1 hour
Rinse and discard soaking water