Recipe from But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan!: 125 Recipes to Win Everyone Over © Kristy Turner, 2016. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available wherever books are sold.

If your family is anything like mine, green bean casserole consists of three (highly processed) ingredients: a can of green beans, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a can of fried onions. Though using only three cans to make the casserole makes grocery shopping pretty easy, it doesn’t do much for the flavor of the casserole or the health of your family members. By using simple homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup (recipe below), fresh green beans, and quickly prepared, crispy, bread-crumb-coated onions for the topping, your family will not, and I repeat, will not miss the old chemical casserole.

Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onion Topping

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• Olive oil spray
• 1 pound (455 g) fresh green beans, trimmed
• Cream of Mushroom Soup (see recipe below)
• 1 tablespoon vegan butter (soy-free if necessary)
• 1 sweet onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• ¾ cup (60 g) vegan panko bread crumbs (gluten-free if necessary)
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly spray a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) baking dish with olive oil.
2. Place the green beans in a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water and cover. Steam for 5 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl. Pour the soup into the bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
3. While the green beans are steaming, melt half of the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the onions to a medium bowl. (Don’t bother to clean the pan.) Melt the remaining butter in the frying pan and add the bread crumbs. Cook, stirring frequently, until the crumbs are crispy. Stir in the garlic powder and salt and remove from the heat. Add to the onions along with the nutritional yeast (if using). Stir to combine.
4. Pour the green bean mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spread the onion mixture over the top. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the topping is crispy and the casserole is bubbly. Serve immediately. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

• ½ large (1½- to 2-pound/680 to 900 g) head cauliflower, broken into florets
• 2 teaspoons vegan butter (soy-free if necessary)
• 8 ounces (225 g) cremini mushrooms (or button mushrooms), sliced
• 2 teaspoons liquid aminos (or gluten-free tamari; use coconut aminos to be soy-free)
• ½ cup (75 g) raw cashews (if you don’t have a high-speed blender, soak in warm water for at least 30 minutes and drain; discard the water)
• 1 cup (240 ml) unsweetened nondairy milk (soy-free if necessary)
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt

Steps

1. Place the cauliflower in a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water and cover. Steam the cauliflower until tender, 7 to 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and liquid aminos and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. Combine the steamed cauliflower, cashews, milk, nutritional yeast, arrowroot powder, thyme, garlic powder, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the mushrooms (and if desired, their cooking liquid) and pulse until they’re in small bits incorporated throughout. You can use the soup right away in a recipe.
4. If you are not using it right away, let it cool completely before transferring to an airtight container. The soup will keep for 5 to 7 days in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer. If you freeze it, let it thaw completely before using.