Green Bean Casserole

I'll bet most of us have had that green bean casserole with cream soup and French fried onions on top. It's usually made with cream of mushroom soup but since I'm allergic to mushrooms I always made it with cream of chicken soup. That is, until several years ago when I stopped using canned soups. I still wanted something similar for holiday meals so I did a little experimenting. At first I used a jar of alfredo sauce to replace the soup and found it to be quite tasty. Then I decided that I wanted something totally homemade so now I make a homemade alfredo-type sauce instead. I'm going to just give general directions here, assuming that you are familiar with the original version.

Green Bean Casserole

• Steam or microwave frozen green beans (fresh, if you have them but they aren't generally in season during the holidays) until tender and drain well. 
• Make an alfredo-type sauce (butter, cream/milk) and add cream cheese to make it fairly thick. Season with garlic powder, cayenne (or Creole seasoning), basil, black pepper or lemon pepper. 
• Mix with cooked green beans in a casserole dish.
• Top with sliced onions which you have caramelized in a little butter and brown sugar.
• Sprinkle grated cheese on top.
• Bake until hot and lightly browned. 

You can also add cooked, crumbled bacon if desired. 

My mom raved about this when I served it at our family Thanksgiving. She said that despite liking most vegetables she isn't all that excited about green beans but LOVED this and went back for seconds. My daughter makes hers this way and her father-in-law (not much of a vegetable eater) has been known to disappear with the pan of leftovers and finish it off himself. Really, it is that good!