Baked Beans with Tomato Sauce for Vegetarians

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package dry kidney beans
• 2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 3 ½ (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon hot paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

Step 1

Soak the kidney beans in a large pot filled with water. Let them sit for about 8 hours or overnight. Once soaked, drain the beans and refill the pot with fresh water, making sure it covers the beans by about an inch. Add a teaspoon of salt and let the beans simmer gently over low heat for around 2 hours, until they’re tender.

Step 2

When the beans are cooked, drain off any extra water, but leave just enough to barely cover the beans. Stir in the tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar, cornmeal, the remaining teaspoon of salt, cumin, hot paprika, and ginger. Mix everything together well.

Step 3

Let the beans cook slowly on low heat for another couple of hours. Be sure to stir occasionally to keep them from sticking to the bottom. Keep simmering until the sauce thickens and the beans have absorbed all those flavors—you’re looking at about 2 more hours. Enjoy!