Greetings to any of my previous readers who are still connected. And welcome to anyone who stumbles across my little blog. I hope you enjoy reading it and trying some of my suggestions.

It's been a long hiatus. Life has taken me through several jobs that didn't give me time to keep up with this sort of writing. But I am alive and well and entering a new stage of my life. I plan to resume sharing some of that with you. Last month I helped prepare a special meal at a local resource center. For my part, I made a large version of a recipe by Lauren Miyashiro for her Classic Green Bean Casserole

It seems we are both updating the recipe, since the version I saved a couple years ago called for 1 pound of green beans, 1 onion and 8 ounces of mushrooms. My impression from that was that it didn't have enough green beans. Her recent version has 2 pounds of green beans, 2 onions and a pound (16 ounces) of mushrooms. So adjust those if you like. I triple the beans to 3 pounds, left the onions and mushrooms the same, and doubled the sauce. And I think that came out about right. So that is what I specify in this recipe.

And I recommend adding 1-2 Tbsp of seasoned salt to the milk mixture before it cooks up and thickens to give it an extra flavor touch. I have been testing a special mixture from a cookbook by a friend that should go into print later this year. But until that is available, choose your favorite salt mixture.

Elevated Green Bean Casserole

Based on a recipe by LAUREN MIYASHIRO

UPDATED: Jan 10 2024

 

YIELDS:

Ingredients

• 3 lb.            green beans, trimmed
• 10 tbsp.      butter, divided
• 1                 onion, sliced into half moons
• 8 oz.           sliced mushrooms
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1-2 Tbsp seasoned salt
• 2                 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c.          all-purpose flour
• 6 c.             whole milk
• 3 c.              French's fried onions

1.      Prepare the green beans. Wash them. Trim the ends. Slice into two or three pieces about 1-2 inches long.

 

2.     Slice and dice the onions. Slice the onions, then dice them into smaller pieces.

 

3.      Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare an ice bath: In a large pot of boiling water, add green beans and cook until bright green, about 6 minutes. With a slotted spoon or tongs, quickly transfer green beans to ice bath to cool, then drain and transfer to a large bowl.

 

4.     In a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are golden, about 5 minutes more. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute, then transfer mixture to green bean bowl. Divide these into 2 disposable aluminum pans.

 

 

5.     In same skillet over medium heat, melt remaining 8 tablespoons butter. Whisk in flour and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, then pour over the green bean-mushroom mixture and toss until evenly combined.

 

6.     Bake until warmed through and bubbling, about 30 minutes.

 

 

7.     Top with fried onions and bake 5 minutes more. 

Here is the nutrition information for the original recipe. My version will be similar:

Nutrition per serving: 323 calories, 7 g protein, 24 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 10 g sugar, 14 g fat,  14 g saturated fat, 431 mg sodium

 

Here is one of the finished meals we served to everyone who came.

Special thanks to all the people who contributed food for this event and the many people at the 

Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico for all the services they provide to our community.

Happy New Year to them and all of my readers.

Joni