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Step aside green bean casserole, this recipe is for a healthy twist with craisins and walnuts

Green bean casserole is a staple of American Holiday dinners.  I remember sitting on the school bus listening to the boy down the street talk about how the creaminess of the Campbell's mushroom soup was accented with the crunch of the fried onions from French's.  Iconic and comforting, I love the decadence but it is not such a fan of me.  Surely my Thanksgiving morning hike could not justify a second helping anyway.  Fresh and flavorful, this recipe is something my brilliant mother threw together one year with what she had on hand and easily replaced the old green bean mush in my list of favorite sides for our Turkey.

• 1 ½ pounds fresh green beans
• 2 tablespoons Walnut Oil
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• ¼ cup Dried Cranberries
• ¼ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1 tbsp Herbs de Provence
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place green beans in a microwave safe bowl with the water.  Cover with plastic wrap and cook on high for 6 minutes.  In a separate bowl combine the Herbs de Provence, Walnut Oil,walnuts and Dried Cranberries in a large bowl, tossing just enough to coat.  Add warm, cooked green beans and toss again. Add Parmigiano Reggiano and toss yet again. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Transfer to a serving dish to your guests at room temperature or warm.

More Vivacious Veggies:

• Roasted Root Vegetables with cider jus

• Orange, Fennel and Spinach Salad

• Beets and Carrots in Lime Vinaigrette from Red Fire Farm

• Roasted Pumpkin and Quinoa Salad with a Lemon Ginger Curry Dressing

What you've shared:

Thank you for that wonderful green bean mush replacement. That casserole is fat laden and is a poor excuse for a side dish period. I'll give your recipe a whirl. It sounds delicious.
Posted by BJ

Wendy Flanagan Hey Julie! Thanks for sharing! I was actually going to make something similar, just that I was going to use blue cheese crumbles instead of parm!!! I am also going to toast the walnuts!

Sounds wonderful, We'll try it! Thanks for the heads up!
Posted by Judith

I never liked the "traditional" green bean casserole. The soup was full of sodium and the canned fried onion rings...well, I need not go on about the true nature of their origins. Thanks for this sound and tasty alternative!
Posted by Diane

Roasted Pumpkin and Quinoa Salad with a Lemon Ginger Curry Dressing

It is just past noon and I am dreaming about dinner.  While everyone else at the farm stand this weekend was picking out pumpkins to carve, I had a dozen recipes I wanted to experiment with.  This recipe was inspired by 101 Cookbooks.  I find Heidi Swanson's work ethereal and sublime. Here is a healthy, hearty, harvest of flavor. 

• 1/2 a small pumpkin, cut in cubes, feel free to substitute with butternut or hubbard squash
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
• 2 medium red onions peeled and quartered
• 3 cups cooked Quinoa
• 1 cup diced fresh beets
• 1/3 cup Raw Pepitas- Pumpkin Seeds

For the Dressing

• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tbsp Local Honey
• 1 tbsp Lemon Ginger Curry
• 2 tbsp warm water, at least
  

 Lay pumpkin out in a roasting pan.  Drizzle warmed coconut oil over the cubes.  Sprinkle salt over and then toss in the pan. Roast for 45 minutes in a 375 f preheated oven. Remove pan from the oven every 15 minutes and toss the squash and onions so that they are caramelized and cooked throughout.

To make the dressing, use a hand blender or food processor puree the sunflower seeds, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, honey and Lemon Ginger Curry until creamy. Add warm water to thin the dressing.

While the pumpkin is roasting toss 1/2 the dressing with the Quinoa on a serving platter. When the vegetables are finished add them to the grain and gently toss.   Sprinkle beets and pepitas over the salad and finish with a drizzle of the remaining dressing.

Serves 4.

What you've shared:

Emma Alison Evans I made it last night, with a slight variation :) I roasted sweet potatoes and roasted the beets, too, with the pumpkin! Pete says it is his new favorite dish and my roomate was raving about the recipe as well! We made pan-seared tilapia (cooked in coconut oil) to go along with it and it was a DELICIOUS, hearty fall dinner! thank you so much for sharing your culinary creativity :)

More ideas to Savour Squash

• Butternut Squash Pizza

• Squash Cake

• Squash Pudding

• Scrumptious Squash Rolls

 

 

Photo Credit:  Italian Food Forever