Green Bean Casserole

Please excuse the splotches on that pan. Oven dishware tends to gain stains and wear over time, but I kind of like that. It gives the pan "battle wounds" and a more rustic look. Those Top Chef, Home and Garden photos are too pretty sometimes... if that makes sense.

Last night I made some green bean casserole. This was a bit of a pantry raid. I'm trying to limit my weekly food budget to 100 dollars, which forces me to make what we have. We had a bunch of canned green beans, a disgusting amount of earth balance, soy milk, and 1/2 an onion-- so this came about. It's kind of unfair to call this a true pantry raid, I must admit. The more you cook, the more stocked your kitchen is, and the more extravagant your pantry raids become. I don't think many people have corn meal or Dijon mustard laying around, but to be fair, those are easily substituted. That's the cool thing about casseroles. You can do flour, butter, garlic powder, milk, nutritional yeast [[all vegan staples I'd imagine]] and make this. It'll still taste awesome. The fried onions, while delicious, are hardly necessary. Throw some bread crumbs on top or even fritos.

This really rocked my socks off though. I'm a freak about green beans. I freaking love them. I'll eat a whole can of them if I can. Andrew will always shake his head and tell me how not healthy they are, and all I can really say is that their not unhealthy. It's like eating lettuce-- but slightly better. At 2 grams of fiber and a healthy dose of vitamin A and C for a 1/2 cup, with the amount I can down in a single sitting, I'm not doing too bad. You got to be careful with canned green beans, though, they tend to be high in sodium.

Anyways, this dish brings back sobby memories of Thanksgiving and all that. But I'll spare you today. These are creamy and flavorful, and who doesn't love a fried onion?

[[Green Bean Casserole a la Vegan]]

sauce
1 tbs brown rice flour, or chickpea flour, or white flour
1 tbs earth balance or olive oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic - about two cloves
1 cup plain whole soy milk
1/3 cup vegetable broth
2 tbs dijon mustard, or any grainy mustard
1 tbs tofutti sour cream
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
dash of salt and pepper

-- Heat butter and garlic on medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and whisk until combined.
-- Add milk, broth, and whisk thoroughly. Turn up heat to medium high and allow to thicken. It will foam up a bit. It should take about 10 minutes.
-- When it's fully thickened, remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Whisk together thoroughly.

onions
about two slices of a large onion, chopped into 1-2 inch long strips
2 tbs brown rice flour, or chickpea flour, or white flour
5 tbs water
1/3 cup cornmeal
salt and pepper
2 tbs vegetable oil

-- Whisk together flour and water. Place in shallow bowl. Combine cornmeal, salt, pepper, and place in ziplock baggy.
-- Dip onions in flour/water mixture. Shake off excess and place in bag. Shake them up in the bag until full coated.
-- Heat oil, and lay coated onions in oil to cook for about 15 minutes, flipping.
-- Lay on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

casserole
3 cans of green beans, drained
sauce
fried onions

-- Preheat your oven to 375 F.
-- Lay green beans in a medium sized casserole dish.
-- Cover and mix in the sauce.
-- Top with homemade or store-bought fried onions.
-- Bake about 15 minutes. Put under low broiler for 1 minute.