Thanksgiving Dinner - Green Bean Casserole Without the Cans

Green Bean Casserole sits right up there next to the turkey and dressing as traditional Thanksgiving food. But this year we have a terrible problem -- barely a week ago we learned that all our canned food is contaminated with the endocrine disrupting chemical BPA.  All canned food, including (gasp!) green beans and cream of mushroom soup. How can we set the Thanksgiving Dinner without Green Bean Casserole? Is it even possible to make everyone's favorite vegetable dish without opening two cans of beans, a can of soup and canned crispy onions? Has anyone ever done it before?

Yes, we can! 

Starting with the green beans, we can use either fresh or frozen instead of canned. In fact, one of the recipes claiming to be "the original" calls for frozen beans. But to end up with a casserole that your family will recognize, be aware that fresh or frozen green beans are not the same as canned. The canning process cooks the beans in a way freezing does not. When you bite into a canned bean, your teeth meet almost no resistance. Compare that to the crunch of fresh or frozen beans, and the difference is obvious.

If your family is accustomed to Green Bean Casserole prepared with canned beans, boil  fresh or frozen beans in salted water for at least 20 minutes or longer before putting your casserole together.

Now, what about that canned mushroom soup? No worries. The soup is no more than a convenient substitute for basic white sauce, with the mushrooms contributing almost no flavor. Unless your family recipe calls for the addition of fresh mushrooms, you'll get the closest approximation to the canned version by leaving the mushrooms out. The flavor in the soup is primarily salt and monosodium glutemate. We can do much better.

Will you add cheese? Our family recipe calls for a hefty glob of pasteurized cheese product, popularly known as Velveeta. While researching this article, I found a recipe calling for two cups shredded cheddar plus half a pound of Velveeta. That's a lot of cheese! Yet several other recipes, again claiming to be "the original," included no cheese at all. So it's up to you.

Those crispy onions, commonly found in their own tidy (and rather expensive) cans, actually are quite simple to turn out in your own kitchen.  Unfortunately, like the canned version, home cooked crispy onions are so yummy that they tend to disappear before the casserole reaches the oven.


Recipe: Green Bean Casserole Without the Cans

Bacon adds extra flavor to this recipe, and provides the fat needed for the cream sauce. Then I make the sauce and assemble the casserole in the same cast iron skillet. If you have someone in the family who detests mushrooms (I speak from experience) celery is a nice alternative. As you'll see, making a dairy-free version from scratch is no trouble at all.

2 bags (16 oz each) frozen green beans OR
 . . . . 2 lbs. fresh green beans
6 slices bacon
1/2 c. chopped onions or scallions
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Sauce:
2 Tbs. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 c. milk (soy works well)
1 c. sharp cheese, shredded (optional)
1 Tbs. soy sauce
dash Tabasco sauce
Salt & Pepper

Crispy Onions:
1 medium onion
1 c. milk (soy works well) for soaking
1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
oil for frying

Cook beans in boiling salted water for 20 minutes, or until quite tender. Drain. This can be done up to two days in advance.

Cook bacon until crisp, then remove and crumble.

Pour off most of bacon grease and reserve. Brown onions and mushrooms if using, in the same skillet, adding a bit more bacon grease and/or olive oil as needed. When mushrooms release their liquid, remove and set aside with the bacon crumbles. Reserve liquid.

Combine 2 Tbs. flour with 2 Tbs. bacon grease in hot skillet, stir quickly until just beginning to brown. Slowly add half of the milk, whisking until smooth and thickened. Continue adding the rest of the milk and mushroom liquid, stirring until smooth and thickened. Add cheese if using, and remove from heat, stirring until the cheese melts. Season with soy sauce, Tabasco, Salt & Pepper.

Combine green beans with sauce, bacon and vegetables. Bake 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

Meanwhile, heat oil for frying. Slice onion very thin, separating into rings. Soak in milk for several minutes while oil reaches about 325 degrees. Dredge in salted flour, then fry quickly until light brown and crisp. Drain on rack over paper towels.

Top hot casserole with crispy onions. Use a fork to press onions down into sauce in several places. Return to oven for 5 minutes. Serve hot.