Asian Slaw, Baked Beans with “Dogs” and V'con Baked Lima Beans

This was a multi-part meal, designed with the purpose of finishing off the perishable fridge contents before they well…perish. This dinner was actually very BBQ-Esq., minus the need for an actual grill or barbequing action.

The purpose of the slaw was to finish off the head of napa cabbage that’s been rolling around in my fridge for what feels like ages, since I SWEAR that stuff multiplies in quantity when you slice it. Combined with some julienned carrots, a crumbled package of ramen noodles (trash the seasoning packet), a sprinkle of sugar, canola oil, and rice vinegar, it’s a tasty and quick slaw that I’ve always enjoyed. I topped it with some toasted sesame seeds for that something “extra”, and it was
Next I decided to deal with a rather large Tupperware of kidney beans that had been sitting in my fridge since I re-hydrated them for a particular dish and used less than half for that purpose. While I know that baked beans are normally made from white beans, I figured there were worse things I could do with my leftover kidney’s, and decided on the “cheater baked beans” recipe from V’con to cook them. I don’t keep molasses (because frankly it grosses me out) so I used Vermont Maple syrup as the sweet addition to the sauce, which turned out great.

We also cut up the remaining Yves hot dogs and added those to the mix when placing the beans in the oven. The consensus on the dogs was that they were okay, but would have benefited from some crisping in a skillet before being added to the beans. The “skins” on the kidneys weren’t great, but it actually wasn’t as problematic as I’d feared, and the sauce was AMAZING. I definitely plan on making these again in the future with the called-for beans.

I’d thought I had more leftover lima beans than there were…which is why I decided to make the lima bean recipe from V’con. I thought there were about 3/4s of a can leftover from the Yuca-less Jamaican Shepard’s pie, and that I’d be a bit short. As it turns out, there was only about a quarter can left, but by the time I realized that, it was too late. I made a number of changes to the original recipe, and the result was neither a lima bean dish nor anything like the intended result, I’m sure.

That said, I have no issues with sharing my version here.

Ingredients

1 Quarter can cooked lima beans

15 ounces pureed tomatoes

½ cup rice

1 yellow onion, diced

Heaping spoonful minced garlic

1 bunch cilantro, minced

1 bay leaf, dried

Splash red wine vinegar

1 cup vegetable Stock

Palm-ful dried mustard

Palm-ful dried oregano

Powdering ground allspice

2 tbsp. olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350, and if you don’t have ready made stock, boil a bullion cube in a cup of water, and then set aside. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a small to medium pot on medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic to the oil, and stir until onion is translucent, but don’t burn. At this point, add all the other ingredients EXCEPT the rice. The cilantro should go in last, since it wilts quickly.
3. Allow the ingredients of the pot to simmer and reduce for approximately 10 minutes, before adding the rice and giving it a stir.
4. Cover the pot, and place in the oven for 45 minutes. After this time, remove the cover from the pot, and cook another 10 minutes to soak up some of the liquids.

This was good, although in my opinion, a bit TOO tomato-y. The contrast of the cilantro was a good choice though, and set it off quite nicely. I was also shy with the amount of rice, because I was afraid it would soak up too much of the sauce, and dry out the dish. After having the final product, I would double the amount of rice to a cup, since there was more than enough sauce to stand up to it. That may end up closer to a “Spanish rice” type dish, which is fine by me…further experimentation is definitely called for in regards to this recipe…



Selah.