Recipe Redux: Green Bean Casserole

EDITOR’S NOTE: With our three-part series on food, we are including a Recipe Redux, where we take a traditional recipe and re-do it to include healthy ingredients. With the holidays coming, we’re kicking off the Redux with that old favorite, the Green Bean Casserole. Originally created by Campbell’s Soups—and printed on many cans of their Cream of Mushroom soup, local recipe maven Sally Simon has changed it up to reduce the sodium and fat, as well as offering a tip for simplifying preparation by using fresh frozen green beans.

Ingredients 
1 lb. bag frozen green beans
4 Tbsp canola oil
4 medium shallots, thinly sliced across the grain so they form little rings
¼ cup plus 3 Tbsp flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1½ cups nonfat milk
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika

Directions 
• Remove green beans from freezer and set aside to thaw
• Season ¼ cup flour with salt and pepper and place in plastic baggy; add the sliced shallots and coat with seasoned flour
• Remove shallots and shake off excess flour
• Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and pan fry shallots until golden and crunchy; remove from skillet and set aside on paper towel to drain
• Using same skillet, heat remaining 2 Tbsp oil over medium heat and add mushrooms; cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until mushrooms are reduced in size and cooked through
• Add minced garlic to the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute; sprinkle 3 Tbsp flour over the garlic and mushrooms and cook an additional minute
• Gradually add milk, stirring constantly; bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes; mixture will reduce and thicken
• Add onion powder, dried thyme, and paprika
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Place thawed green beans in ovenproof dish; pour mushroom mixture over green beans, stir in half of the cooked shallots, and bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 20 minutes
• Top with remaining shallots and serve