Supper with baked beans can be a cheap alternative

A few weeks ago when we featured good old baked beans in this column as an economical alternative for supper, Peggy Drinkwater in Greenbush was inspired to send along a recipe she likes that uses baked beans. Chuck Wagon Beans will remind you a little bit of chili with its mixture of ground beef, beans and a healthy shot of ketchup.

It occurs to me that this might be a good way to use ground venison or moose meat if you have that in your freezer or in the offing with a hunter in the family. If you want to take a lower-fat route, you could use ground turkey. If you like spicy sausage, substitute that for the hamburg. Don’t forget that if you have leftover baked beans you can use 3 cups of those instead of canned beans.

Peggy recommends pea beans, and adding ground ginger, optional, to cut down on gas. Ah, yes, beans, beans, the musical fruit, etc. Even if the ginger has no impact on the famous side effect of bean eating, it might very well improve the flavor. Feel free to be generous with the mustard, ginger, onion and Worcestershire. You could put a little chili powder in it, or even cumin and garlic.

Chuck Wagon Beans

Makes 4 servings.

1 pound hamburg

1 28-ounce can baked beans or 3 cups leftover baked beans

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

Salt and pepper

1 large onion chopped

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon ginger

Brown the hamburg and drain off excess fat. Put beans, browned burger and the rest of the ingredients into a 11/2-quart casserole, cover, and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

To microwave the dish: put into a microwave-safe dish, cook on high for five minutes, then 10 to 15 minutes on medium.

To make in a crockpot, cook on high for two hours.