Vegan & Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole

This ultra creamy Vegan Green Bean Casserole is a wholesome take on the classic but is so decadent that you'll never guess it's dairy and gluten free!

You’ll Need:

• Heaping 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for 30 minutes or overnight
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (or water)
• 3 medium onions, divided
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp whole grain bread crumbs (sub certified GF bread crumbs if necessary)
• 3 tbsp flour (sub certified GF flour if necessary)
• 2 1/4 tsp salt (divided)
• 2 lbs frozen cut green beans
• 2-8oz packages sliced mushrooms, chopped
• Pinch ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce (sub tamari if necessary)
• 1/4 cup dry white wine (I used chardonnay)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Grease a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Place cashews in a bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside to soak for 30 minutes or overnight. (If you have a nutribullet or high speed blender, 10 minutes of soaking is fine.)
3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 475F. Thinly slice two of the onions, setting aside the other onion for later. Combined sliced onions with bread crumbs, flour and 3/4 tsp salt in a large bowl, tossing to combine. Be sure to separate each individual onion piece. Spread onions in an even layer on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray or lined with a Silipat. Spray once again with cooking spray. Bake for about 20 minutes, tossing halfway through. Watch carefully to make sure they don’t burn towards the end of cooking. Once onions are done, remove from oven and lower oven heat to 350F for casserole.
4. Bring a large pot with two inches of water to a boil. Once boiling add green beans. Bring back to a boil (this may take a while) and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain and run cold water over green beans to stop cooking. Set aside.
5. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Chop remaining onion. Once hot, ad to pan and cook for about five minutes before adding garlic and mushrooms. Cook for another ten minutes, stirring often. Add nutmeg, soy sauce, white wine, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper. (It will taste salty, that’s ok!). Simmer for about five minutes.
6. Blend soaked cashews with almond milk in a blender or food processor (I used my nutribullet) until completely smooth and creamy. Set aside.
7. Stir in cashew cream and 1/4 of the baked onions. Stir in cooked green beans.
8. Spread mixture into prepared dish. Top with remaining baked onions. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes (if onions are on the crispier side, you can cover with foil for first half of cooking.) Serve hot!

NOTES:

• To make this dish ahead of time, make the sauce and the green beans then store in separate containers in the fridge. The next day, bake the onions and combine everything per the recipe.

Source: hummusapien.com