Monday, July 20, 2009

Green Bean Casserole



Every so often, J and I take a trip to Trader Joes, or also known as, land of the best frozen food. I don't know what it is about that place, but it makes frozen food appetizing. I think it's that TJs doesn't banish their frozen greens to a ice chest with a heavy door and a white plastic bag with birds on it. No, we SEE the beans, flash frozen, glistening with possibility, or the mouthwatering cherries, preserved at it's peak and ready for me to thaw and enjoy.

This often amounts to me buying way too much frozen food, where, when we get home, I banish it to the back of our freezer until a day, like today, when we have returned from vacation and have no food in the house. That is when I am reminded of the possiblities with the green beans, which now, are glistening even more due to freezer burn.

Green Bean Casserole, we meet again.

One thing i hate about green bean casserole: Campells Soup apparently blackmailed Mrs. Joy of Cooking and the rest of the 50s housewife world by insisting that mushroom soup is a necessary ingredient. Even googling "green bean casserole" yields THOUSANDS of recipes, all using mushroom soup. That soppy, half solid/half liquid, salty grey plaster.

Not fabulous.

So, here's where I've looked around and found a vegan casserole

The only things that I would change are:
-skipping the soy creamer
-adding 1-2 tbs butter to make the sauce more of a roux before adding stock, yet then rendering it unvegan.

I also didn't have fresh mushrooms, so i subbed in dried porcini which added a nice nutty/woodsy taste to the entire dish.

Now that there are no green beans in my freezer, I probably will feel compelled to buy them again during my next TJs shop. Maybe next time, I'll find a better use.

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