Healthy Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

For the fried onions, fill a medium bowl with the almond milk and add thinly sliced onion (make sure to separate all the rings) so they can sit while you make the casserole.

For the casserole, in a large, high-sided frying pan heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and onions and cook until lightly golden brown, about 3–4 minutes.

While mushrooms and onions cook, fill a large pot with water, adding a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add trimmed green beans and cook until fork-tender, about 7–8 minutes. Drain and transfer to a paper towel. Try to lightly press out as much of the water as you can. Set aside.

Once the mushrooms and onions are cooked, add 1 cup of the almond milk and 1 cup of the coconut milk (reserving the rest for later) along with the salt and pepper and stir until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil. While you’re waiting for it boil, whisk together the tapioca starch and remaining 1 tablespoon of each milk in a small bowl until smooth.

Once boiling, stir in the tapioca/milk mixture, whisking constantly so that it doesn’t cook and get chunky. Boil the milk mixture for 4 minutes, stirring constantly so that it doesn’t burn. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring very frequently, until the mixture is really thick and reduced by half, about 10–11 minutes.

Once the sauce is thick, add the green beans in and stir until evenly coated. Pour the mixture into an 8×8 inch baking dish and bake until the sides are bubbly and the sauce has further thickened, about 25 minutes.

While the casserole cooks, it’s time to finish making the onions. Heat the avocado oil in a medium saucepan, or high-side skillet, over medium high, then reduce to medium. The oil should sizzle when you add the onion, but you don’t want it too hot that it just burns the onion.

Place the tapioca starch, coconut flour and salt into a large resealable bag and shake around until well mixed. Drain the excess almond milk out of the onions and add them into the bag and gently shake around to evenly coat each ring.

Drop a few rings into the hot oil, making sure not to crowd them, and cook until lightly golden brown and crispy, flipping as necessary. I did mine in 4 batches to make sure they weren’t overcrowded.

Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and gently blot off the excess oil. Repeat until all the rings are done.
Once the casserole has cooked, scatter the fried onions on top, lightly pressing them into the casserole. Bake for 5 minutes more.

Devour.

Note: You will not actually consume mearly this much oil. I measured it after frying the onions, and had 5 1/2 tablespoons left over. So, nutritional information reflects only using a total of 2 1/2 tablespoons. However, you need all that extra oil to cover the onions so they cook and get crispy.