You know what’s fantastic about the delicious crispy little fried onions you get from the grocery store? Many of them are vegan! They make pulling together a classic green bean casserole so incredibly easy, but with a vegan twist.

This is not a completely from-scratch recipe because you're using the fried onions BUT its a delicious and elevated version of the old faithful “mushroom soup from a can” version.

We will definitely be serving this on our Thanksgiving table this year and, because it’s so easy and comes together quickly, I’m sure we will have it a lot more over the coming months.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lb green beans
• 4 TB vegan butter or olive oil, split in 2 parts
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 12 oz cremini or white mushrooms, sliced
• 2 TB flour
• 1 TB Portlandia Organic Worcestershire or Spicy Organic Worcestershire
• ½ cup vegetable broth
• 1 can unsweetened full-fat coconut milk
• 1 TB dijon mustard
• 1 tsp fresh thyme (dried is also fine)
• ¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• ⅛ tsp cayenne salt and pepper to taste
• 1 ⅓ cups crispy onions (make sure they are vegan)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Bring a gallon of water to a boil in a medium-sized pot with 2 TB of salt. Blanche beans for 5 minutes, then drain and immediately pour into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain back into the colander and allow to dry.
   
   
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
   
   
3. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt 2 TB butter and sauté the onions until translucent and starting to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the mushrooms and allow to brown, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
   
   
4. Scrape out and reserve the onion mushroom mixture. In the same pan, heat the remaining butter and stir in the dijon mustard, thyme, cayenne and nutmeg. Whisk in the flour. Allow to cook until the raw flour taste has cooked out, about 1 minute
   
   
5. Quickly whisk in the vegetable stock and coconut milk along with the Dijon and Worcestershire. Whisk the whole thing on medium heat allowing everything to incorporate and stirring out any lumps. When it’s smooth and creamy and slightly thickened, stir in the green beans and onion mushroom mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in ⅔ cup of the crispy onions.
   
   
6. Pour into a buttered casserole dish and sprinkle with the remaining crispy onions. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Serve hot and say thanks for green beans and onions!

Recipe Credit: Molly Boudreaux