Lets get to the bottom about dried beans with an Easy Peasy Beany Bake!

'Beans, beans good for the heart, the more you eat the more you ..........  yeah yeah we all know the end!' Beans do have that effect on us and sometimes it can be rather unpleasant. However, beans are a fantastic food. They are full of protein, iron and vitamins. So they are well worth adding to your diet. The problem some folks have is they do not know how to deal with dry beans or use them. It is easy.

Here is a simple to make recipe using dried beans and pulses -

Easy Peasy Beany Bake

A selection of beans and lentils, brown rice, pearl barley. About 1 cup
1 medium carrot, chopped into small dice
1 small onion, chopped into small dice
1 cup of breadcrumbs, fresh or dried
2 eggs
1 heaped tsp of garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp of paprika
1 1/2 tsp of dried parsley
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of dried mint
1 tsp of thyme
1/2 tsp of celery seeds
2 tbsp of ground kale powder or finely chopped fresh kale


The night before soak the beans, lentils, and brown rice. There is no set amount of each or the type of beans or lentils used, I just threw in a bit of yellow split peas, red lentils, pearl barley, brown rice and two different types of dried beans (ones we grew on our homestead)

The next day cook the beans and pulses until tender, do not worry if some go mushy as they will be getting mashed anyway.
Once the beans and pulses are cooked and cooled fry the onion and carrot until slightly browned.
Mash the bean mix with a potato masher, you want to leave some of the beans whole for texture.

Add all the ingredients to the bean mix and stir it all together until well incorporated.

Place in a suitable sized baking dish and bake on 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or until firm and cooked through.
Serve with what you like. A good cheese sauce goes wonders with it :)

I have a great leftover dish for the any remaining bean bake, zip across to my Facebook page and take a look. That recipe will be there shortly, link below.

https://www.facebook.com/flavourforlife/