GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

DOTTIE'S GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
2 14-ounce cans french cut green beans, drained well *
4 ounce can mushrooms, drained well
1 small onion, sliced into very thin rings, 2 1/2 ounces
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Saut?the onion, celery and mushrooms in the butter until very soft and a little browned, about 20 minutes. Combine all of the ingredients in a greased 1 1/2 quart casserole or 8x8" baking pan. Bake at 350? uncovered, 30 minutes or until nicely browned and bubbly. Or, microwave on 50% power, loosely covered, about 30 minutes, turning down to LOW if it starts to get too brown.

Makes 6-8 servings
Can be frozen

* You can use a 16 ounce bag of frozen green beans. Cook them according to the package and drain well. See my comments below.

Per 1/6 recipe: 281 Calories; 24g Fat; 11g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs
Per 1/8 recipe: 211 Calories; 18g Fat; 8g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

This was very tasty and would be nice for a holiday dinner. It was also very good using half cheddar and half pepper jack cheese. I've made some adjustments to Dottie's original recipe. Adding cream made it too runny, so I've replaced the 1/4 cup cream with another 4 oz. of cheese. The carb count remains the same. I've also added microwave instructions. You can easily turn this into a main dish by mixing in some cooked, diced chicken or browned hamburger. Diced ham would be very nice as well. Click the photo to see a close-up.

For some reason, using a 16 ounce bag of frozen green beans, instead of two cans of beans, results in about 2 extra net carbs per serving. This is due to some fuzzy math on the USDA site and also the fact that it probably actually would take closer to three 14.5 ounce cans of green beans to equal 16 ounces of frozen. That's because the drained weight of a 14.5 ounce can of beans is really only 9.25 ounces and that's including all the water that has been absorbed in cooking and canning the beans. If those couple of extra carbs worry you, just use 12 ounces of frozen beans instead of the whole bag. Here is a photo and the counts for using frozen beans:

With frozen green beans:
Per 1/6 recipe: 277 Calories; 23g Fat; 11g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs
Per 1/8 recipe: 208 Calories; 17g Fat; 8g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 5g Net Carbs

I think I like this better with frozen green beans than with canned. They have a fresher flavor and better texture. Both are good, though, and canned are very convenient.

1. Prev:CRACKER BARREL COUNTRY GREEN BEANS
2. Next:GREEN BEANS ALMONDINE