I got a piece of fan mail once. I really did!

This lovely woman, in her letter, said words that I have taken as my catchphrase: “I love to cook, and I cook to love.” Indeed, that is what it all seems to be about, doesn’t it? Even if it’s a tuna casserole kind of night, it’s made with love. And, frankly, around my house tuna casserole night is met with a warmer and more genuinely thankful reception than a lot of things.

Tuna casserole, for me, is something of a concession. I do it because I love them, not because I am a huge fan of the stuff. But the family? They’re nuts for it. So I do it occasionally, because I love them.

Which brings me to another thing my family loves that I am altogether “Meh” about: green bean casserole. I would be fine if I never really looked another green bean casserole in the face again. I do, however, have naughty thoughts about French’s fried onions, but that’s another thing altogether.

The green bean casserole is a topic of conversation EVERY. YEAR. at Thanksgiving. “Are you making it? PLEASE?” As if it’s a rare treat, a delicacy we can only afford once a year. Which, of course, it isn’t. It’s just that I don’t particularly like it.
I always want to dress it up, improve it, make it out of, oh, I don’t know, something FRESH. My husband, Mr. Meat and Potatoes, does not like change and therefore prefers his green bean casserole to come from cans only, thankyouverymuch. Still, I keep trying to win him over, to show him the error of his ways.

So, today, I give you green bean casserole, MY WAY. Just try to tell me that this is not better than opening a can of (ICK!) cut green beans, mixing a can of cream of mushroom soup, and sprinkling some of those heavenly (they are the redeeming factor) French’s fried onions on top.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2013/nov/25/265111/

Megan’s FRESH green bean casserole

For the beans:
1 lb fresh green beans, ends snapped off
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
Salt and pepper

For the sauce:
1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used a combination of shitake and crimini)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup white wine
Salt and pepper

For the topping:
1/2 cup onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup herbed panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Arrange your green beans in a medium-sized casserole dish and drizzle with olive oil. Toss in the sliced garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for half an hour.

Meanwhile, start your sauce and topping:

Saute the mushrooms and garlic over medium-high heat in the olive oil for about 3 minutes. Toss in a dash of salt and the flour and mix to coat. Then slowly add the milk and wine and stir until well-combined. Stir occasionally while the temperature rises and the mixture begins to thicken. Once thick enough (it won’t ever be thick like mushroom soup and THAT IS OK), pour it over your green beans and return them to the oven.

Start your onions. In a small skillet or saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and add the onions. Walk away and start on some other part of your Thanksgiving feast. This will take a while and that is good. You want those onions good and cooked — black around the edges. Not completely turned to charcoal, mind you, but well done.

Toss them and the bread crumbs over the green beans and return the dish to the oven at a lower temp until ready to serve. Being in the oven will help the sauce thicken and will brown the breadcrumbs.

I LOVE THIS. It’s fresh, but fattening. It’s garlicky and onion-y and has texture and creaminess and all the things people love about green bean casserole, but it is DELICIOUS and I feel like I know what I’m eating, which is something I value.

I’ll probably have to make the Campbell’s soup version on Thanksgiving but I will have this too. Side-by-side taste test. If they know what’s good for them (and they like Thanksgiving dinner to happen every year) they’ll know which one to choose.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Be fat and happy, just this one day.