I've been trying to consume more iron in the foods I eat, so I've been a little obsessive about tracking amounts of iron in everything. I've been having either fortified cereal with soy or hemp milk or some warmed vanilla soy/hemp milk with a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses stirred in for an iron-rich late night snack. (Hemp milk is higher in iron than soy milk, but it's more expensive... and not all brands taste that great. I like Living Harvest's Hempmilk the best.)
As I was stirring molasses into my vegan beans and franks tonight, it occurred to me to look up nutritional info for the ingredients. And lo and behold, this is a pretty iron-rich recipe, especially if you cook it in a cast-iron pan. The tomato paste in the barbecue sauce contains vitamin C, which helps you absorb the iron, too.
Pinto beans, 3 cups = 57% RDA iron
Sorghum molasses, 3 Tbsp = 45% RDA iron
Vital wheat gluten, 78 grams (.625 cups) = 23% RDA iron
Total = 125% RDA iron, or if you divide the whole recipe in 4 servings (we usually get 3), 31% RDA iron in each serving. Not too shabby, all things considered
