Green Bean Casserole Modified

Stop the presses!  I have made another new recipe...that's three new recipes in less than 10 days.  I wonder if I'll try any other new recipes this year or if I've met my quota.  I guess I'll just have to see how my stomach inspires me.  I got this recipe from my dietician's blog which contains some pretty good recipes and other information.

The first thing I noticed about this recipe is that it had mushrooms in it.  Gross!  I mean really!  Are there still people out there who like mushrooms?  I promptly emailed my dietician and asked if she thought it would be okay without the mushrooms and she said, "sure."  One of the things that led me to this recipe is that it uses homemade cream soup-no canned cream of mushroom soup here.  I had never done that and wanted to try it out.  It went great.

The only other problem with this recipe is that it took a while to prepare.  I added a pound of chicken to this casserole to make it a one-meal casserole.  Therefore, I first had to cook the chicken.  Then the garlic and onion, then the milk was thickening, and don't forget to cut up the green beans.  And don't forget to get your breadcrumbs ready.  Here is a picture of everything happening at once.  It was a thirty minute cooking marathon where I said to my husband, "you can talk to me but don't come in the kitchen."

So the only things I changed with this recipe were adding the chicken and deleting the mushrooms (down with fungi!).  I wish I had made a little bit more sauce so next time I will add about 1/2 cup more of milk.  I also wish I had more caramelized onions for the topping so I will probably use 2 full onions for the entire recipe.  I made my own bread crumbs from some leftover bread in the freezer.  It did not work to toast it and put it in my food processor.  I guess my processor is just lame-o.  I broke the bread up by hand but it was worth it because those crumbs tasted delicious.  Here it is before baking.   

Here it is after baking and broiling.  I left it in the oven about 10 seconds too long.  Those broilers...can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.  It wasn't burned though, just crispy.

It's not as pretty when you dish it out but it sure tasted good.  Oh, I almost forgot that I also seasoned it with my fallback seasonings of garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper, salt, pepper and whatever else I threw in.  My method of seasoning is very haphazard.  You just have to see it to experience the entire effect.  It is usually based on how spicy I want something.  I might add cayenne pepper, paprika, ginger, lemon, mustard, red pepper flakes or anything really.  In any case, I knew salt and pepper wasn't enough for us even with the fresh garlic and onion.  Also, make sure your green beans are soft enough to want to eat.  I baked mine for about 40 minutes instead of the suggested 30 minutes.