Perky Vegetarian Baked Beans in the pressure cooker or crock pot

Everyone likes baked beans. The are loaded with protein, vitamins, fiber. Even though the main ingredient, dried beans, isn't something you think about as being something you would grow, it's easy to do. So far, I have only saved dried beans for seeds, not as a food crop, but it is the same process. Let the pods dry on the plant. Remove the seeds from the pod. Store the seeds in a cool, dry place.

Even though the beans are most likely to be purchased from the store, you can still use your farm-grown produce.

This recipe is sweetened only with molasses and is way lower in sugar than most baked bean recipes. (You can substitute honey if you have it, or prefer the milder taste.) The flavor is perked up with the addition of onion, bell pepper, garlic, barbeque sauce and mustard.

Perky Vegetarian Baked Beans

1 pound dried pea or navy beans
1 chopped onion
1 chopped pepper
1 minced garlic
1/2 cup ketchup (homemade from your own tomatoes, if you can)
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (homemade from your own tomatoes, if you can)
1/2 cup molasses
1 tsp mustard
1 cup water

Cook the beans according to the pressure cooker directions (or the package directions).

Drain the beans and put them back into the pressure cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Pressure cook for 6 minutes, then let the pressure release on its own. If your pressure cooker has a "keep warm" function, you can keep the beans on "keep warm" for many hours to let the flavors blend.

Or put the cooked beans and the rest of the ingredients in the crock pot, stir, and cook on low for 6 hours.