Crude Food

Mr Old Reliable. The tin of beans.

I’m particularly fond of this little meal because it reminds me of summer days and lazing around in student digs. This one is courtesy of a good friend circa 2005 or so (3 years before uni).

With this example I’ve used the “mini sausages and beans” combo: if you have them to hand then you’ll know it’s heroic, otherwise just go with beans. Suprisingly good ratio protein/carb/fat wise (the only thing you need to watch with this one is regularity: each tin contains around 30% of your GDA of salt) so if you’re looking for a quick fix that tastes good and treats your stomach alright this is the one for you.

Ingredients:

- Bread of choice.
- Herb of choice (Oregano works well, but nothing tops “Italian Herb” for that instant Pizza Bean taste.)
- Beans (with mini sausages if you’re in the market for it).
- Cheese (this can make or break the dish - I’d say best bet is Mexicana Cheddar, today I only had cheddar in the fridge).

Okay. Here we go.

Put the grill on to pre-heat. Put the toast in the toaster on a low/medium setting (the toast will be grilled lightly ASWELL so leave room for error). Nuke the beans.

When the beans are done and the bread lightly browned you can begin construction. Place the toast on a plate - beans on top, followed by a grating of the cheese. If you’ve gone for sausages as well you should remove them and place them on the side of the plate. (Anyone else find it a bit like battleships trying to fish out that last pesky sausage?!). Make sure they get a bit of bean-juice so they don’t dry up in the grill - sprinkle some of the grated cheese on each one.

Place under grill.

At this point you’ve got about enough time to grab a drink and think about dessert. Trust me: you don’t have long. Everything is cooked, so we’re only grilling to melt the cheese in. Keep an eye on it.

Bring it out, whack on a sprinkle of your herb of choice, and sit down in front of whatever television show is on at Pizza Bean o’clock.

I understand that it doesn’t look great in the photo: food rarely does when you’re taking a picture on your phone, but I assure you this is one of the best. Smells great, tastes good, nice mix of textures and just enough to fill the gap between meals.

Pizza Beans.

Crude.