Vegan and Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole

Holidays are a funny thing right after you get married, suddenly you have to figure out how to combine the traditions you spent the better part of your life upholding. Fortunately for us, Thanksgiving didn't present too much of a challenge since we both had a pretty standard menu growing up. Turkey (later replaced by tofurkey for me), mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing/stuffing, and so on. But one thing I never had growing up that he did, was a green bean casserole. My dad does not believe in "ruining good vegetables" in a cream sauce, and since he did most of the cooking in my house, the creamy green beans were never offered. Luckily for my husband though, I do not have the same hang ups with ruining vegetables and was happy to incorporate his family staple into our Thanksgiving.

I wasn't really sure how to go about making this recipe without the cream of mushroom soup since my cream sauces are mostly soy milk based and I didn't want to have that flavor profile in the casserole. But after a little Googling, I found a recipe that I thought might do the trick. I altered it slightly by reducing the vegan sour cream and mayonnaise since I personally found it to be a bit too runny and a little too rich for my taste, but other than that I kept true to Beth's original recipe (thanks Beth!...also check out her site, Delectably Free, she offers a lot of vegan, gluten-free, and sugar-free recipes!). 

If you are looking for the Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup and canned green beans taste, look elsewhere. But as my husband said, this version is better and tastes more fresh. I'll take that as a success.

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Note: Gluten free alternatives noted in ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs green beans, trimmed and halved

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 yellow onion, sliced thinly

15 mushroom caps, sliced (shiitake, white button, or cremino are best)

1/3 cup vegetable broth

3/4 cups vegan sour cream alternative (I use Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream)

1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise alternative (I use Follow Your Heart Vegenaise)

Salt and pepper to taste

French's Fried Onions, or for gluten free alternative, crushed kettle cooked potato chips

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse immediately with cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

In a large sauté pan, sauté onion in olive oil over medium heat until the onions are soft, translucent and browned. Add mushroom caps and sauté until soft (1-2 minutes). Add vegetable broth, stir, and turn off heat. Stir in sour cream alternative, mayonnaise alternative and green beans. Toss to combine and add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

Pour green beans into a shallow baking dish. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes, or until beans are softened to your liking and sides are bubbling. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with fried onions or crushed potato chips and serve warm.