Baked Bean And Vegetable Flan

I USED to know how many baked beans where in a can of baked beans.

I did, honestly -- but I've forgotten.

Not that I counted them. I read it somewhere years ago.

Every day of the week one and a half million cans of Heinz baked beans are bought so someone else is eating them on a regular basis besides myself.

And if you get sick of fish over Easter, why not go for the cheap dish shown on this page instead -- I can guarantee you won't have to pick out any bones.

I would like to bet that you have a can or two of beans in your kitchen cupboard yourself.

If you have you are in good company.

Celebrities known to enjoy this humble delicacy include Naomi Campbell, Cilla Black and Mel C of the Spice Girls.

I am a baked bean snob. For me they have to be Heinz. I know you can buy less-expensive varieties, costing as little as nine pence per can, but in my opinion they do not compare.

However, if you use an alternative brand and are happy with it, all well and good. A recent inspection of the baked bean aisle at my local supermarket was a revelation.

Baked beans with chocolate sauce is the latest delicacyy to hit the shelves.

Call me a sceptic but I do not think that is going to be a number one best-seller.

Whatever next, tomato ketchup-flavoured chocolate bars?

Children of all ages rate them as one of their favourite meals and baked beans are very nutritious.

A serving of baked beans on toast, accompanied by a glass of milk, offers over a third of the recommended daily amounts of iron, vitamins B1 and B2 as well as three quarters the amount of calcium.

As good as our recipe is, feel free to add other ingredients to make it even more interesting.

Credit to my sister who suggested that I add sliced cooked sausages or possibly cooked smoked bacon.

Give it a try and have yourself a bean feast.

DID YOU KNOW?

The secret blend of herbs and spices which makes Heinz Beans so popular is known to only four people in the world.

At the beginning of the last century baked beans were sold as a luxury food item that not everyone could afford. A large can sold for 9d (old money) which would be the equivalent of £1.50 today!

Heinz UK salesmen used to carry a hot flask full of baked beans to provide samples for their customers.

Heinz baked beans, manufactured in this country since 1928, originally contained small pieces of pork but they were removed during World War II due to meat rationing.