Cooking Lesson #382: The Original Green Bean Casserole

The Thanksgiving Collection

How you doin’? It just about an hour before dinner. Everyone is out in the living room getting ready to feast on turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and Green Bean Casserole. You are stressing out. You need to get your green vegetable side dish ready to serve. How about making the original Green Bean Casserole? It takes just minutes to whip up and contains a mere six convenience ingredients.
 
Sixty years ago, Dorcas Reilly invented the classic American dish of Green-Bean Casserole when she worked in the Campbell Soup test kitchen. Ms. Reilly was one of the first full-time employees at the Campbell’s Home Economics kitchen where she helped to create recipes printed on the labels of the company’s famous products. Ms. Reilly worked in the H.E. kitchen cooking with things that were most likely to be in most homes looking for easy recipes that used Campbell’s products that were not too expensive to make. Today, this recipe is still a staple at holiday dinners across the country.
 
Her original recipe (below) calls for mixing a can of cream of mushroom soup, cooked green beans, milk, soy sauce and black pepper. Pop it in the oven, toss some crunchy fried onions on top, and yet another element of the Thanksgiving dinner will be done!
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Bake time:  30 minutes
Yield:  12 servings
 
Ingredients
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup (I prefer Campbells)
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 cups blanched cut green beans
2-2/3 cups, divided fried onions (the one in the funny can—French’s or private label)
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350⁰ F.
2. In a 3-quart casserole, stir in the soup, milk, soy sauce, pepper, beans and 1-1/3 cups of the onions.
3. Bake for 25 minutes or until hot.
4. Remove from the oven and stir to mix.
5. Top with remaining onions.
6. Bake for another 5 minutes then serve.

ChefSecret:  For a festive touch, stir in 1/2-cup chopped red peppers with the soup. Omit soy sauce and stir in 1/2-cup shredded Cheddar cheese with soup. Sprinkle more cheese on top as desired when topping with onions.

Quip of the Day: “What did the turkey say to the computer?" "Google, Google.”
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Have a wonderful safe and healthy holiday. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. 

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                                     ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

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