Tuesday, April 3, 2012

California Casserole

Summer afternoons on the farm visiting mama and papa (pronounced: mam-maw, pap-paw) were sometimes spent stringing freshly picked green beans off the vine under the Weepin' Willow. Which to this day remains my favorite tree, and green vegetable. Being a bean, it's actually more of a "starch" than a green, if you want to get all scientific about it. (Next recipe post: Food for scientifically minded people.) Which brings us to today's recipe. "California Casserole." I love this recipe because it's easier than canned, and almost naturale. Real food for real people. 

Preheat oven 375 degrees 

Green Bean Casserole 
Stuff To Get Out of the Fridge After You Get Up Off the Couch and Walk into the Kitchen:

- 1 pound (maybe a little more) fresh green beans  - rinsed, stringed and cut diagonally in half
- 1 crisp red bell pepper - sliced into square chunks
- 1 Vidalia onion (or mild white)- sliced into square chunks
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese (preferably white) - grated
- seasoned bread crumbs - enough to cover top of casserole. (Here's the unnaturale part, I use Progresso Italian when I don't feel like making them, which is more often than not. But feel free to knock yourself out and whip up your own. Toast three slices of  whole wheat  bread until crisp, crumble then sprinkle with freshly minced garlic mixed with salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings ;)
- one large juicy ripe tomato - cut into eight slices (fourthed, then eighthed)
- 1/4 cup water
- salt
- freshly ground pepper

Assemble
In your favorite covered casserole round, place freshly rinsed, strung, and diagonally cut in half, green beans. Add red bell pepper. Add onion. Fluff together until pretty. Pour in 1/4 cup cold water. Lightly salt and pepper to taste.

Bling
Arrange sliced tomatos - eight- in a circle on top of the vegies in the casserole dish, reserving one slice for the middle.
In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs and grated cheddar cheese. Sprinkle overtop casserole and tomato slices. Cover.

Bake: Here's the tricky part. You don't want to overcook this. I like mine slightly al dente. If you do too, try 45 minutes? I don't rightly remember. Test by taste. Remove cover 5 to 10 minutes before done. See how that works out for ya.

Mmmmmm..Now that's good eatin'!





4 comments:

  1. Yum! Another way to use up the pounds of green beans that ALL come in at once. My way: clean 'em and snap 'em into random pieces. Throw them in a roasting pan with zucchini, onions, peppers of various colors, potatoes if you've got 'em, yellow squash, well, basically, whatever veggies (fresh) you have around. Toss them to coat with olive oil, throw in some rosemary and other stuff (fresh) if you've got them, and roast them in the oven at 350 until done. Asparagus can go in. Pretty much anything except I've not had luck with tomatoes or leafy things like lettuce. Oh, carrots. Carrots are beautiful in this.

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  2. Summer vegies have me beggin' for summer. Yours sounds very yummy! What a colorful managerie! I love roasted tomatoes too! What the heck, I'll throw cares to the wind and toss'em in anyway ;)

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  3. Jim just finished tilling up the garden and I'm yearning to see all those beautiful veggies popping up. I'm going to put in some early lettuce and spinach, I think, but, like you, can't wait for the summer goodies to arrive. Nothing better. Oh, by the way, small chunks of corn on the cob work great in the roasted melange, too.

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  4. More unconscious subterfuge! Mangerie (pronounced like lingerie if you look it up in Urban Dictionary) was the word I wanted. But after thinking it over, I liked managerie better. It has an edge to it that's exciting when cooking. My grammar is at least six degrees of separation from the correct spelling, and even further from the correct word, like melange.

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