we are full of (vegetarian BBQ) beans

we got married!

on the shores of Lac Léman. (photo by nicola pravato)

...which means international visitors, lots of laughter, lots of sharing, and not a lot of time for writing. rest assured, the folks are being fed well. in fact yesterday, we had a monster barbecue at my in-laws house. and the evening before that? we were at an enchanting private pond of a friend, catching fish to throw on the giant schwenker-like grill.

 for that occasion, i made some delightfully easy and tasty bbq beans and a melon and feta and cucumber salad.  the swissies arent big on beans, so it was an occasion to share something tasty and cultural.  now, i shouldacouldawoulda made my own bbq sauce for the beans, and i didnt--they were inspired by a jar of store bought bbq sauce i could not resist.  it was one of those "wait a minute, im not used to seeing that here" moments complete with swirling strings and a halo of light.  this also happened once when i found root beer in the beer section.

normally, i would also advocate soaking dried beans overnight, but sometimes we dont always have the brain juice to remember such things.    with everything we've been juggling the last month, well, i just used canned beans.
as always, i dont have exact measurements.

1 onion 3 cans cannellini beans
about 3/4 cup of tomato paste (it comes in a tube here, so i just used my toothpaste skills and squeezed as much out as i could)
about 1/4 cup bbq sauce (i probably used a little more)
1/3 cup-ish coveted brown sugar from US (moooooooleaaaasses)
a few good shakes of ground cloves
maybe a cup of water?

i sautéd the onions with some olive oil, added the paste and bbq sauce, and swirled those things around a bit.  then i added the beans and then water, a little at a time, and added the cloves.  then the pot simmered for hours.  and the result? YUM-O
we had to sample it the next morning, the day of the fishing trip, just to make sure we didnt accidentally make poison.  i wanted to make it the night before so the flavours would be ka-POW zam WOW! and they delivered.

beans, fried eggs, veggie sausage

at the pond, we warmed the beans in a fondue pot over the open flame.

my husband and the laura 

i was tempted to steal my pot and run off with the beans and my two team USA buddies--all these beans are belong to us! well, maybe the swiss mister too.  after all, he chopped the onion.

bon appétit <3