Our family loves to celebrate July 4th! We gather on the idealic Martha’s Vineyard to celebrate our country’s birthday.  A barbecue is a must as we make a traditional New England summer dinner, lobstahs, clams, corn on the cobb, potatoes, grilled vegetables and baked beans.

The clams are from our claiming expedition on Lake Tashmoo. Fresh caught and we cooked them on the grill in white wine, garlic and sea salt.

This years my helper with the baked beans was my granddaughter, Maddi. We make easy vegetarian beans by using canned beans to cut down the preparation time.

Ingredients

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, cut into small dice

1/2 medium red pepper, cut into small dice

3 large cans (28 ounces each) vegetarian baked beans

3/4 c. barbecue sauce. I used 1/2 cup Stubbs Orignal BQ sauce and 1/4 cup Stubbs Spicy BQ sauce

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. distilled or cider vinegar

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Directions

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. 

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.

Add onions and peppers and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. 

Add beans and remaining ingredients bring to a simmer.  

Pour flavored beans into a greased 13-by 9-inch (or similar size) ovenproof pan. Bake until beans are bubbly and sauce is the consistency of pancake syrup, about 2 hours. Let stand to thicken slightly and serve.

 

Enjoy!