I've never been a big fan of green beans. They're just so...green. Unless they come in the form of a green bean casserole. Who isn't a sucker for cream-of-whatever soup and french fried onions? But I've been trying to eat more of the vegetables I wouldn't normally pick out for myself by getting a box of produce from Full Circle Farm every other week. Amazingly we've only gotten green beans twice in our order. Both times I've turned to Full Circle's New Classic Green Bean Casserole Recipe. It's a delicious twist on an old classic albeit with slightly more labor. I dare you to try it. I don't think you'll go back to the can of green beans. =)
Ingredients:
2 lb fresh green beans chopped in thirds, stem ends removed
2 T butter
1 cup shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 T fresh thyme, minced
1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, stems twisted off and discarded, caps sliced
1/2 cup sherry or white wine
18 oz creamy Portobello mushroom soup
1/2 cup french fried onions
Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly coat two quart shallow baking dish with nonstick spray.
Bring large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add beans, cook 7 to 8 min until al dente. Drain and return to pot.
Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add shallots, garlic, and mushrooms; saute 5 min, or until lightly browned and liquid from mushrooms evaporates. Add thyme and saute until fragrant (3-4 min). Deglaze with sherry and reduce until almost evaporated. Add to beans.
Pour soup onto beans, toss gently to coat. Transfer to baking dish. Top with french fried onions.
Bake 30 min or until hot and bubbly and onions are crisp. Cool for 10 min.
*If you're not a mushroom fan, just skip that part. I made this last year sans the mushrooms and white wine and it was still delicious. I also used regular (cheap) cream of mushroom soup rather than Portabello.
If anyone has other variations of the green bean casserole, I would love to hear them. Eating it tonight reminded me that I need more excuses to cook with french fried onions.
I love green beans, but green bean casserole was never something my family did. It was, however, a staple at Trav's holiday dinners-- so I've been making it for him during Thanksgiving. I do hate mushrooms (but can pick them out.) What really gets me though, is the cream of mushroom soup. I just couldn't do it.
ReplyDeleteSo, I just make my own cream of mushroom. I follow basically your instructions above (sauté some mushrooms, onions, and garlic in butter until they're soft. Add chicken stock and simmer until reduced by 1/2. )Then I add cream and cook it down until it's the consistency I want.
Then, resume instructions as you have them above. :-)
I've never made my own cream of mushroom soup. I'm going to try it next time!
ReplyDelete