Green bean casserole

One of the staple dishes of Thanksgiving dinner seems to be green bean casserole. That would be the one made with cream of mushroom soup and canned fried onions. I don't remember this dish from my childhood, so I'm thinking it's something that has been popularized in recent years by one or the other food manufacturer. It has become so popular that grocery stores in this area regularly fill up one of the end caps of a food aisle with all of the ingredients in one convenient spot.

It's a tasty dish, to be sure, and a handy way to get kids to eat green beans. Unfortunately, it's overloaded with sodium and carbohydrates and is roughly the consistency of glue.

Happily, I found a recipe for green bean casserole that is none of these things. It appeared in the same place I found the Frog Eyes (My HEB Goodness, Holiday, 2007). I haven't actually made the recipe as of this writing, but I have all the ingredients at hand and hope to have prepared and tasted it by the time this post is published.

Here's the recipe:

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Splendid Green Bean Casserole

Prep Time: 10 minutes/ Cook Time: 15 minutes

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• 2 large shallots, peeled and sliced thin
• 2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons HEB Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 bags (12 oz. each) HEB Ready Fresh Go! Green Beans
• 1/4 cup HEB Texas Twist Ranch or Caesar Dressing

1. Heat oven to 500 [degrees] F. Line small baking pan with foil and spray with nonstick olive oil cooking spray. Spread the shallot rings evenly in the pan and bake for 5 minutes or until golden. Remove and cool.
2. Combine mushrooms and olive oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes. Set mixture aside.
3. Prepare green beans according to package directions, drain, and place in large serving bowl.
4. Top green beans with mushrooms, dressing, and shallots. Serve warm. You can also cover the dish with plastic wrap, refrigerate, and microwave for 5 minutes on high before serving.

Makes 10 servings

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Nutrition Facts:

One serving = 3/4 cup
80 calories, 2 g protein, 5g total fat, 1 g saturated fat.
0 g trans fats, 7 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 2 g sugars,
0 mg cholesterol, 70 mg sodium

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I'm having to make some substitutions, especially in brands (sorry, HEB, all your stores are across town here in Houston). That's gonna make some difference in some of the nutrition numbers, but, since I'm watching carbs, I'll be sure that those are not adversely affected by the change. Your mileage may vary.

*crossing fingers*

UPDATE: Made it. Ate it. Loved it. The only seasoning, however, came from the salad dressing that we added before we served the dish. We used Newman's Own Ranch Style dressing. While the dish tasted good, I felt that it needed more flavor. Everyone else seemed to manage it without anything else, but I had to hit the salt shaker. In any case, I am now confident enough about the dish to start playing with the recipe. Mmmm.