Green Bean “Casserole”, All Natural

This month I’ll feature some of my “classic” Thanksgiving recipes, which are mostly traditional recipes that I’ve tweaked to make as healthy and easy as possible. Enjoy your Thanksgiving preparations!

This is a fairly simple recipe; a healthier rendition of the classic Thanksgiving dish, “Green Bean Casserole”. There’s no can of soup, no MSG, no gluten. And it tastes fresh and delicious!

Caramelized onions substitute for that can of onion rings; they can be cooked ahead of time, which makes holiday prep easy.

The onions take some long, slow cooking to develop their sweet, mellow flavor; texture comes from the addition of slivered, toasted almonds. Serves 12 or so.

Grateful-Table-Green-Beans-w-Onion-Almonds

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 lb. yellow onion
  • 1/2 c. Olive oil
  • 2-3 lb. Green Beans
  • 1-2 (8 oz.) pkg. toasted, slivered almonds
  • 1 tsp. salt

PREPARATION

1. Hours ahead of serving (even the day before), prepare the caramelized onions. Slice into strips: > 2 lb. peeled yellow onion

2. Crowd onions into a medium iron pan (if the pan is too large, the onions lose too much moisture and burn too easily). Lightly brown the onions on medium-high heat, adding: > 1/2 c. olive oil

3. Stir the onions more often at first, then turn heat down some. Turn the onions occasionally for an hour or two, keeping the heat low enough for some moisture to develop. Turn the heat up briefly if too much moisture accumulates. Eventually, onions will be reduced to a much smaller amount; they will develop a sweet, caramelized flavor. Set onions aside. Refrigerate if making a day ahead of time.

4. On serving day, trim beans by cutting ends off, and steam them. In cooking larger quantities, the beans towards the bottom of the pot may get more cooked; cook beans in batches if necessary.

5. In a medium-large pot, add: > One inch boiling water > 2 lb. trimmed green beans

6. Use a metal steamer in the bottom of the pan, if available. Cover the beans and cook on medium high heat until the beans are tender. (Be sure that the water doesn’t boil away.)

7. To serve, mix together: > The caramelized onion > 1 tsp. salt > The cooked beans > 1-2 pkg. toasted, slivered almonds

8. The dish can be kept warm in the oven until serving time, or can be microwaved for a quick warm-up.

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