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Green Bean Casserole

Every so often I get a hankering for something less-than-good for me. A few days ago, that meal was green bean casserole and I thought I would (finally) share a recipe on this site like I promised I would.

Before I go any further, however, I think I should clarify something first: I don't generally follow recipes. I may look up information on a specific preparation method or save a recipe to Basil for future meal ideas, but I am not the type of person who follows a recipe to a Tsp.1 In addition, if there is taste I am going for, I will taste my specific product until it is exactly where I want it, not where a website or book suggests it should be. I felt like clarifying this about my cooking methods because when I share a link or recipe here, I want it to be clear that it is inevitable that I made something slightly or even completely different when I actually made the dish myself. Also, I work in approximates; my serving sizes and total times are rarely the same for myself and are variable based on a person's specific kitchen. I will list these in my recipes, but another cook's mileage may vary.

In preparation for green bean casserole, I grabbed out of my pantry a can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup and a bag of green beans, but that seemed uninspired, especially given just how little nutritional value there is in these types of recipes. My wife and I have been on a Quinoa kick recently, so I thought I would look something up that included Quinoa.2 Not only was I pleasantly surprised by the recipe I found, but my minor changes made the final product healthy and made me childishly nostalgic for the comfort food for which I was originally looking.

As I discussed in the afore-linked post, titled "Nesting", I have posted my recipe below as well as a link to put the recipe into the Basil Recipe App. Enjoy!

Quinoa, Tomato, Green Bean Casserole Recipe

Yield: 6 Servings, Total Time: Approximately 1 hour

Ingredients:

  • 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
  • 1 1/2 cups Quinoa uncooked
  • 3 cups green beans, or mixed vegetables
  • 8 oz package of cherry tomatoes, chopped
  • 4 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cloves Garlic diced
  • Sea salt
  • Cayenne pepper
  • Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Preparation:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Cook Quinoa according to package instructions.
  3. Mix Quinoa with can of soup in large mixing bowl. Lightly oil a large casserole dish and press quinoa mix into the bottom of the dish.
  4. Meanwhile, boil a large pot of water. Put green beans in this boiling water and cook for 10 minutes, or until desired tenderness. Strain and set aside.
  5. Sauté the tomatoes in olive oil for 3-4 minutes, or until desired consistency. Add garlic, cayenne, and salt to pan and sauté for a minute or so more. Put the tomato mix over the quinoa.
  6. Add desired salt to green beans and put green beans over the tomatoes.
  7. Sprinkle with cheese. Put in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling.

Recipe Notes

  • The original recipe called for different proportions of some of the ingredients. When I was creating my version of the dish, I knew that the addition of the soup would throw things off, so I used less Quinoa, but left the veggies as they were, more or less.
  • Goat Cheese or Feta would be a really good addition to this recipe, but not having either of those on-hand, we went for the trusty Wisconsin cheddar. The one note from my wife was that I didn't use enough cheese. Crazy Wisconsin women and their addictions to cheese aside, I agreed with her, which is why I took out the measurement for that ingredient. In addition, I would add multiple layers of cheese next time, but that is really personal preference.
  • Similarly, the original recipe used specific amounts of salt in various stages. I don't add a lot of salt to my meals, so I simply added salt where the taste might necessitate it. For ease of use, I left the spots where the original added salt anyway.
  • Finally, I used a bag of mixed frozen veggies for lack of the fresh version, but that did not change anything about the recipe in my opinion since the veggies are boiled until the desired tenderness is achieved.
  1. Grammatical cooking jokes. (Shrug) ↩
  2. For those who have seen (and have laughed at) the commercial about a tailgating husband whose wife has packed a Quinoa burger and he pronounces it QUEE-NO, it is funny but terribly undereducated, especially given the fact that Quinoa is a fantastic source of protein and fiber for vegetarians such as myself. ↩