Not-Your-Mother’s Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole in my husband’s family is sacred.  You do not mess with the green bean casserole. I do not buy into these types of allegiances, and feel that if you find a better tasting way to prepare something, then by all means.  While I am pretty certain that the majority of his family members still do not subscribe to my line of thought, this green bean casserole has been accepted with praise and that is good enough for me. Baby steps!

I really don’t like canned green beans, but for a casserole, I think that texture and flavor is pretty trademark and cannot be avoided, so I still use the canned frenched beans. I also think the trademark fried onion topping is also expected, I kept them, if only so that the family could recognize the dish. There are sautéed sweet onions and mushrooms, green beans, a slightly tangy sour cream béchamel sauce and lots of cheddar cheese, plus the traditional crunchy onion topping.

Wowzers! That’s got bite!

Baked Very Garlicky Chicken, with Green Beans and Winter Squash
(Printable Recipe)

• 8 chicken thighs or 4 chicken breasts pounded
• 1 cup Italian flavored bread crumbs
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• ½ cup crushed garlic or 15 garlic cloves crushed
• ¼ cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 medium sized (three fists) winter squash (acorn, butternut…)
• 4 cups frozen or fresh green beans
• Butter

Combine the garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper in your food processor and puree. Put the chicken into a zip top gallon bag and pour the garlic mixture over the chicken.

Prep a baking sheet by covering it with foil.

Combine the bread crumbs and parmesan in a mixing bowl.  Dip each piece of chicken into the bread crumbs, pressing to coat well and lay each piece out on the baking sheet without allowing the pieces to touch.

Don’t Disregard the Dizzy Chicken – Day 1

Convenience is the most prized asset of a harried housewife.  Marketing companies know this and they will make things very, very convenient. But to what detriment?  Your wallet? Absolutely. The earth?  You bet ‘cha. Taste? Yep. So when is convenience really convenient?

I am a spice and herb addict.  I buy chopped fresh garlic in food service quantities.  Why? Because I really love the taste of garlic, but I hate the smell of it on my fingers and it’s dirt cheap and best of all, convenient.  I also like the convenience of having fresh herbs in my freezer.  I will pop basil, parsley and cilantro in the freezer if I’ve used all I’m going to use at the moment because the remainder would spoil.  The freezer stops the spoilage but creates another problem. 

Do you remember in science when you were looking at onion skin under the microscope? It looks similar to an orange segment but flat. Well, imagine that the leaves of all these fresh herbs are orange segments and when we freeze the segment, all the little follicles (which are actually just single cells filled with juice) burst because of the water expanding as it freezes. So when the orange segment defrosts it is just a mushy, unappealing globule.  The same thing happens to the herbs. 

Why do I mention this? Well for convenience, of course! Because all the properties of the fresh herb are still there, except the crisp, fresh appearance, you can have fresh herbs anytime you need them. For any recipe that you need a fresh herb that will become incorporated into the dish you can use frozen herbs. This just opened up a whole new world of availability.  You can have summer herbs in the winter! And you’re not spending your money on little things like fresh herbs every week, which can cost up to $3.00 per pack.

The second most convenient thing available to the home cooks…rotisserie chickens. These little golden, juicy, beauties are such a timesaver. They are piping hot and at $5.99 a pop ($4.99 at Costco), they are a steal too.  You can’t buy a whole chicken for that.  Chances are, you like chicken.  Americans on average eat over 84 pounds of chicken per person each year. It is so versatile.