Green Bean Casserole

Whoa, wait. Caitlin.. eating green beans?

If you know me, you probably know that despite being a longtime vegetarian there are still some vegetables that I won't touch. For a very long time, up until this summer, actually, green beans have been my number one arch nemesis (with olives and gill-y mushrooms following a close second and third, respectively). Since joining a CSA, I have been working diligently on my relationship with green beans and have come to appreciate their flavor. So, when hosting a Thanksgiving party for my fellow first year graduate students, I figured I might as well continue making peace with green beans and tackle the green bean casserole. I had never had it before, so I went with the classic recipe off the back of the French's French Fried Onions container, but of course, edits had to be made.

What can I say? It turned out to be a hit!

Green Bean Casserole

Yields: 9 x 13" casserole

Ingredients

• 12 oz Pacific's Organic Cream of Mushroom, condensed
• 1/2 c milk (I used reduced fat milk)
• 1 tbs reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 1/2 lb green beans, fresh
• 6 oz French's French Fried Onion Strings
• 1/4 c Bel Gioioso's four cheese blend
• 1/4 c sliced almonds
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/16 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, ground

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. On the stove top, bring a large pot of water to boil. While water is coming to a boil, snap any woody ends off of the green beans. Afterward, chop green beans into 3" pieces. Once water is boiling, put the green beans in for a quick 2 minute cook. Immediately after two minutes, take the green beans out, strain them, and run cold water over them to stop them from cooking. Then, let them sit in cold water or an ice bath for at least 5 minutes.
3. In your 9 x 13" pan, combine cream of mushroom, milk, and soy sauce. Add spices to this liquid mixture.
4. Once the green beans have cooled, toss them and half of the onion strings with the mixture in the pan. Top with cheese and the sliced almonds.
5. Bake casserole for half an hour. If the cheese topping is becoming crusty, remove the casserole and cover the pan with tin foil and resume cooking until the 30 minutes is up.
6. After 30 minutes, take the casserole out from the oven. Immediately top with the remaining onion strings and serve!

Expect to see this recipe redone in the future with homemade cream of mushroom soup and onion strings. Last night did not permit trying out these endeavors, but hopefully there will be time in the future for these adventures. Also expect a post on sweet potato blondies coming up shortly!