Say goodbye to mushy canned green beans, cream of something soup, and processed French fried onions. Using fresh veggies, a light yet creamy homemade sauce, and a crisp caramelized onion-whole grain breadcrumb-parmesan topping will change the way you think about this holiday classic…so much so that you may even consider having it as a nutritious side when it’s not even Thanksgiving or Christmas! (Yep, you can do that.)
And without heaps of butter and salt or jugs of heavy cream, you can delight in your delicious rich veggie without any of the guilt or heaviness.
Just caramelize, toast, and toss the topping…
Stir the creamy goodness…
Steam the green beans until al dente, toss with the sauce, and top with the onion mixture (refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving)…
Then bake to crisp bubbly perfection.
- 12 oz trimmed green beans
- 3-4 Tbsp whole grain bread crumbs*
- 1 tsp olive oil or butter
- 1/2 cup sliced yellow onion
- 1-2 Tbsp chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp freshly shredded parmesan
- 1/16 tsp salt
- sprinkle dried Italian herbs
- 1 tsp olive oil or butter
- 4 oz sliced cremini mushrooms
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 3 Tbsp chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp flour (all-purpose or white whole wheat)
- 1/3 cup 2% milk
- 3 Tbsp freshly shredded parmesan
- 1/8 tsp salt
- sprinkle black pepper
- Steam green beans until al dente (2-3 minutes in microwavable bag); remove and cool several minutes. Roughly chop.
- Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add oil/butter and swirl to coat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized. Stir in chicken broth as necessary while onion cooks to loosen browned bits from pan.
- When tender and translucent, add onion to a small bowl with the bread crumbs. Toss with parmesan, salt, and dried herbs as desired.
- Heat oil/butter in the same skillet over medium. Sauté mushrooms until tender, then add garlic for about 30 seconds longer. Stir in chicken broth, scraping browned bits from pan.
- Stir in flour.
- Then slowly add milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a light simmer and cook a couple minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened. Stir in parmesan.
- In a casserole dish, toss chopped green beans with sauce, then sprinkle onion mixture on top.
- Bake covered at 375º about 30 minutes, then uncover and broil about 1 minute, until top is crisp.
- *You can use store-bought breadcrumbs or make at home: Simply toast a couple slices whole grain bread, cool, then pulse in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Store extra in a baggy in the freezer for use anytime.