Garlic Almond Crusted Green Bean Casserole

My favorite part of Thanksgiving green bean casseroles is the crust- wait the crust AND the creaminess- ahhh I just love everything about green bean casseroles! With all the cream and flour that goes into casseroles I thought for sure I'd have to pass this year and go for straight green beans, but thankfully an afternoon of experimenting in the kitchen led to something that tastes just as good as the original with the same texture!! (I'm a big texture person).

Sidenote: I took this dish to our Friendsgiving feast this weekend. The BF thought "the idea" of green bean casserole was so gross that he refused to try it (you may recall a previous post about casseroles in which he said "Casseroles sound like something I would be forced to eat as punishment", so I called the dish a "bake" and he loved it). It was a hit with everyone else, and people were really surprised to learn it's completely clean. I know it' a good dish when it tricks people.

Servings: 10
Prep Time: 25 mins (I chop REAL slow though..)
Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh green beans, halved longways ($3.00)
• 1 cup fat free Greek Yogurt ($.75)
• 1 medium onion, diced ($1.00)
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese ($1.00)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 piece Ezekiel Bread, crumbled into tiny crumbs
• 1/8 cup stone ground corn meal
• 3/4 cup chopped almonds ($2.00)
• 3 Tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the halved green beans for 5 minutes. Remove the green beans and strain, then rinse with cold water to stop them from cooking. ***Once you finish this step you have cooked green beans! You can just add sea salt and garlic powder and serve that too! Easy.

In a medium sized frying pan cook the chopped onions over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic for about a minute, stirring constantly.

Remove the onions and garlic from the heat and throw in the cheese and mix until it's a big melty glop. Now add the Greek Yogurt, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper and mix thoroughly. Add the green beans and stir it all together until it's thoroughly mixed. Spread the mixture evenly into a 9x9 (sprayed) baking dish.

In a small mixing bowl mix the almonds, cornmeal and garlic powder. Sprinkle evenly over the green bean mixture in the baking dish.

Cook for 30 minutes.

Is there a fast way to halve these beans? Seriously.

This is where I was like, "this is going to be a disaster and unedible"

But then all this goodness came out!

You can serve just the baked green beans too! Yummm