I remember the first time I had green bean casserole. I didn’t have it until I was in my 20s, it was never a Thanksgiving staple in my family. My brother in law grew up eating it and requested it for the dinner spread. My sister read the can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup, frustrated by the simplicity. Really just a can? What are “french onions”? We all gathered around the table and tasted the dish. My sisters and I all agreed it was a mistake and voted off the dish from future dinners.
I didn’t listen. I couldn’t shake off has a very classic dish could be so bad. This prompted me to make a 100% from scratch version of the dish, and made it vegan. Each year I kept tweaking the recipe, and trying out new methods. This year, as I made a pre-Thanksgiving testers batch, I found the perfect match.
I debated posting this dish since the photos didn’t turn out so great. I thought I could wait till after Thanksgiving and post it with better photos. I mean, this is a dish you could make for Christmas, right? But then after discussing Thanksgiving dinner with my Mother-in-Law, it seemed that she had plans for her own green bean dish. Posting the dish was a now or never deal.
This is a great dish if you are the guest invited to Thanksgiving. It isn’t hard to make, but it does take some time and planning. First you have to roast the onions, then you have to cook the green beans, then you need to make the sauce, then combine into the casserole dish. So it is great to make, getting all the messy work out of the way of the host. Even better is that it is a vegan dish that doesn’t seem “healthy.”
The plan is simple. Bread and bake onion rings in the oven. Cook the green beans by boiling them for 5 minutes, or use frozen beans (fresh will give the best results). On a stove top make a mushroom-miso like gravy. Cover the green beans with the “gravy” and top with onions. Heat again in the oven. Simple enough.
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp of flour
- 2 tbsp bread crumbs
- 1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed*
- 2 tbsp Earth Balance Butter
- 12 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp white miso
- 2 cups unsweetened soy milk**
1 Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2 Combine onions, 1/4 cup flour, and bread crumbs in a bowl. Throughly coat the onions. Place the coated onions on the baking sheet, trying to spread as even as possible. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes.3 While onions are baking, boil water for green beans. Cook green beans for 5 minutes. Drain and run cold water over beans, bringing them to room temperature. Place in casserole dish until ready.4 When beans are done cooking start the mushroom sauce. Melt the margarine in a pot. Add mushrooms, salt, and pepper, sauteing them till they release liquid. Add nutmeg, miso, and 2 tablespoons of flour stirring for a minute, coating the mushrooms. Slowly add soymilk, making sure no lumps from the flour forms. Cook for about 7 minutes, letting the liquid thicken.5 Pour sauce into the casserole dish, carefully tossing the beans. Add the onions on top and bake for 15 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy!
* You can replace the fresh green beans with frozen. The texture will not be as nice though. If using frozen, skip the step of blanching the green beans.** Feel free to replace with milk of choice, but steer clear of coconut or coconut blend milks.
