Baked beans and mayo - a salad?

Nothing bumps up the nutrition, convenience, and flavour of the beloved seven colours like a baked-beans and mayonnaise combo.

But is it a salad or a side? You decide.

In curating an old-fashioned Easter menu with a mouth-watering twist, Umpheko food stylist and fashion designer Mpumelelo Dhlamini drew inspiration from dishes rooted in nostalgia.

“This Easter, we are recreating the classics while keeping it contemporary,” Dhlamini says.

“Even though we keep evolving as people, certain dishes remain dear to us. Those dishes celebrate who we are, merging the past and present, like the dishes I used to make with my late parents for the holidays.”

Enter Mzansi’s kitchen staples, the iconic baked beans and chakalaka. Packed with flavour, they also save time and money.

“South Africans love baked beans and chakalaka — that’s our thing,” says Dhlamini. “Growing up, I had an aunt who lived in Soweto, and I remember the smell of chakalaka greeting us by her doorway when we visited her. Chakalaka is the one dish that goes with almost everything, from a braai to a roast."

“It can be mixed up or kept simple — it elevates the plate and adds a different flavour.”

Here is how to recreate those special memories this Easter:

1. BAKED BEANS & MAYO “SALAD”

Ingredients:

• 1 can of Koo baked beans
• 1 can of Koo green peas (drained)
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise

Method:

• In a bowl, combine peas, baked beans, and feta cheese
• Add mayonnaise and mix
• Serve with seven-colour classics

2. MINI CHAKALAKA QUICHE

Ingredients:

• 400g shortcrust pastry
• 1 can of Koo chakalaka
• 6 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon green-onion spice
• 1 teaspoon Aromat
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcuis 
• Roll out short-crust pastry and cut out circles that will fit in a muffin pan
• Grease the muffin pan and add the pastry circles to each well, pressing down gently
• In a mixing bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients — chakalaka, eggs, green-onion spice, Aromat, black pepper, and 3/4 of the cheese (the remaining cheese is for the topping) 
• Pour the mixture onto the pastry circles, gently filling each well. Leaving about a centimetre at the top
• Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of each mini quiche
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown

3. SWEETCORN BREAD

Dry ingredients:

• 1 cup polenta flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 250ml sour cream
• 1 cup of canned Koo sweetcorn
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 deg Celcius 
• In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients; in a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients
• Combine the two bowls of dry and wet ingredients
• Line or butter your baking pan and pour the mixture into the pan
• Bake for 30-35 minutes or until fully done. Do a knife test to see if the bread has cooked through 
• After baking, allow the bread to cool before serving.