Clean Green Bean Casserole w/ crunchy almond crust
If you're searching for a gluten free, clean eating, delicious, healthy, Thanksgiving casserole you can just stop right here! Not a condensed "cream of" soup in sight. No artificial junk in this one, all real food ingredients. All totally amazingly delicious!
INGREDIENTS:
CASSEROLE INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces mushroom sauce (see below) crunchy almond crust (see below)
MUSHROOM SAUCE INGREDIENTS:
2 Tablespoons butter or olive oil 8 ounces white button or baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced 4 cloves garlic, minced 3 Tablespoons Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 baking flour (or almond flour) 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock 1 cup milk (I used 2%, but any milk will work) 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (not packed, I used Monterey jack ) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
CRUNCY ALMOND CRUST 1⁄4 cup Sliced Almonds, (chopped, or hand crushed) 1⁄4 cup clean Bread Crumbs 2 tablespoons Ground Flax Seed 2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese (or Monterey Jack)
TO MAKE THE MUSHROOM SAUCE:
Heat butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until melted. (Or if using olive oil, heat until it is shimmering.) Add mushrooms and saute for 3-5 minutes until they are soft and cooked, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes until fragrant, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with flour, and stir to combine. Saute for an additional minute to cook the flour, stirring occasionally.
Slowly add chicken broth, whisking to combine until smooth. Whisk in milk, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Let cook for an additional minute until thickened, then stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until the cheese is melted. Reduce heat to low until the sauce is ready to be tossed with the green beans.
(*If the sauce seems too thick, you can add in an extra 1/2 cup of milk. If the sauce is too thin, you can add in an extra 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.)
TO MAKE CASSEROLE:
Toss green beans in pan with mushroom sauce removed from heat. Stir together until all green beans are coated.
TO MAKE CRUST: To make the topping, mix together the almonds, breadcrumbs, flaxseed and cheese. Spread evenly over the green bean mixture.
Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, serve warm.
**** I made casserole and left off topping the night before Thanksgiving. Day of, spread topping over casserole and bake*****