I like a recipe that’s low-maintenance – ie that I can abandon early on, and go do laundry, work at the computer, talk on the phone and generally be distracted, without risking burning my house down or ruining the entire project…

Hence, my new favourite find: Maple Baked Beans from Whistler chef, Karen Kay. Her Harvest Cuisine Whole Food cookbook was based on years of Community Kitchen classes, and is chock full of easy, vegetarian and affordable recipes and little nutrition tips.

Here’s how to make your own Baked Beans that will swear you off ever buying a can of the musical fruit again.

(And a belated congratulations to Zoe Martin for her Canadian citizenship!)

Maple Baked Beans

500 ml of organic dried navy beans (or white beans)

1.5 L water

1 two inch piece of wakame seaweed (this helps make the beans more digestible, as our resident nutritionist, Geneviève Blanchet, explained in her post about legumes.)

120 ml tomato paste

1 med onion, diced

60 ml soy sauce

20 ml apple cider vinegar

8 ml sea salt

60 ml maple syrup

10 ml dry mustard

30 ml molasses

Step 1: Soak the beans overnight. Then rinse, and place in a large pot with water and wakame. Bring water to a boil, turn down to simmer for about an hour, or until soft.

Step 2: Preheat over to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 3: Drain off beans when they are cooked, reserving 1/2 cup bean water.

Step 4: Mix the water with the remaining ingredients. Mix in the beans and pour into a casserole dish. Bake 1 hour, uncovered, stirring occasionally.

And yes, it is THAT easy.