Vegan Green Bean Casserole (gluten free, grain free, paleo friendly) ByIrvin Lin

I love green bean casserole! I almost did not make it this year because of the gluten and dairy found in the original version. However, two of the people I was having Thanksgiving with really like it. So, I did some searching and found the recipe below. It was wonderful! I did have some problems creating the fried shallots, but I think that was an operator error, not an error of the recipe. I think this would taste great without the shallots on top also. The only change I made to this recipe was to use chicken broth instead of vegetable, and I used 1-1/2 to 2 cups instead of 1 cup. I did this because I like a soupier casserole instead of a dry one. If you are looking for a tasty side at your next holiday gathering, give this a try! 

The recipe and following information below came from the post: http://www.eatthelove.com/2013/11/vegan-green-bean-casserole/

Vegan Green Bean Casserole  (gluten free, grain free, paleo friendly) By Irvin Lin

The classic green bean casserole is part of nearly every Thanksgiving potluck in middle America. This recipe reworks the canned green bean and mushroom soup version into an easy from scratch recipe that is friendly to most people with food restrictions, other than those with nut allergies. Even better though, is that the final dish tastes BETTER than any green bean casserole you have ever had. Truth. Bonus, the dish isn’t really a casserole, as it’s made on the stove, which frees up room in the oven for other dishes.

There are a few things to note about the ingredients. The cashews need to be raw and need to soak overnight in water, so plan accordingly. The almond meal or flour can be purchased or just take plain unsalted almonds and grind them up into a powder in a food processor. Arrowroot flour is a thickener that is gluten free and paleo friendly. If you don’t have any on hand, you can substitute cornstarch, glutinous rice flour or tapioca flour in its place.

Revised from a previous post of mine for Vegan Green Bean Casserole, which in turn was inspired by a Cook’s Illustrated recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup raw cashews
3 large shallots, sliced into 1/8 inch thickness
1/4 cup almond meal or flour
1 tablespoon arrowroot flour (or cornstarch, see note above for other substitutions)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
7 tablespoons olive oil, divided
10 oz brown or white button mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
6 medium cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 1/2 lbs fresh green beans, tips snipped off
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 fresh bay leaf or 2 dry bay leaves
1 cup vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions
1. Take the cashews, place them in a medium sized bowl, and cover them with water until they are completely submerged. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Once the cashews have soaked, drain them and rinse thoroughly. Place the cashews in a blender or food processor and add 1/2 cup of water. Process on high speed until pureed into a thick cream consistency.

2. Line a baking sheet with a double layer of paper towels. Place the shallot slices in a medium bowl and sprinkle the almond meal, arrowroot flour, ground pepper, and salt over the shallots. Toss to evenly coat the shallots. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large sauté pan or skillet on high. Once the oil starts to shimmer (but before it starts to smoke) reduce the heat slightly to medium high and add the coated shallots and fry them, stirring constantly, until they are golden brown, about five minutes or so. Once they are golden brown, move them to the baking sheet.

3. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the sauté pan or skillet and turn to medium heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until they are brown, about 5-7 minutes depending on how thick the mushrooms are. Pour the mushrooms and any accumulated liquid, into a heatproof bowl.

4. Add the final 2 tablespoons of oil to the sauté pan or skillet and turn the heat to medium. Add the onions and cook until they soften about 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the green beans, thyme, bay leaves, pureed cashews and vegetable stock. Cook, stirring frequently, until the beans are slightly tender but crisp in the center, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and liquid and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, or until the green beans are tender and the sauce has thickened. Once done, season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the thyme and bay leaves before plating and sprinkle the fried shallots over the green beans before serving.

Makes 6 servings.