SMOKY APPLE BAKED BEANS

This is a must try if you like baked beans. My husband loves baked beans because his mother always made delicious homemade baked beans since his childhood. We both think this recipe is fabulous and they are easy to make since uses canned beans. You can find the original recipe here by FatFree Vegan. I modified it to suit our tastes and to use what I had on hand.

Lectins are proteins found in uncooked beans and other foods which can potentially make people sick. Dr. Steven Gundry wrote a book called "The Plant Paradox" trying to convince people to avoid lectin-containing food like beans. Cooking beans destroys lectins. Canned beans are cooked already.
You can read Dr. McDougall's newsletter for more information about lectins.

Here is Dr. Greger's 5 minute video entitled Dr. Gundry's The Plant Paradox Is Wrong. If you want to learn even more from Dr. Greger about lectins, listen to his 20 minute podcast Beans, Beans: The Truth About Lectins.

Smoky Apple Baked Beans

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups chopped red onion

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 large apple, peeled and grated

4 Tablespoons dried minced onion

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-ounce can great northern beans, drained and rinsed

For the sauce

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

3 pitted Medjool dates

1 Tablespoon cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Heat a large Dutch Oven pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute several minutes until it begins to soften. Stir constantly, adding a splash of water when wants to stick.

3. Add garlic to the pan and sauté for another couple of minutes, stirring constantly and adding a splash of water when needed.

4. Add the apple and minced onion and cook for another minute.

5. Add the beans and remove from heat.

6. Combine sauce ingredients in a high speed blender until completely smooth. Pour this sauce into the pot with the beans and stir well.

7. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes.