Green Bean Casserole - “The mother of all comfort foods”

[Gray_G]

thank you Richard for the this post

no need to be snobby here, and some nostalgia is fun

the beauty of the recipe is it’s flexibility, low cost and ease to make

it also tastes good, particularly at gatherings with other comfort style foods

throw in a great bottle of wine and you are all set

cheers

[MitchTallan]

This might come as a surprise, but gourmet cuisine was unknown to most American households in the 1950s and early 1960s. The availability of quality food at your average supermarket, which we now take for granted, has gone through quite a transformation over the past 50+ years. Nevertheless, 40% of Americans eat fast food at least once per day.

I remember frozen blocks of green beans tossed in to a pan of boiling water…to emerge flavorless and overcooked. Between 1965 and 1985, my mother’s cooking (every day) improved dramatically. Simple, easy to prepare recipes were a stepping stone in that evolution.

RT

I agree RT. Growing up in the 70’s with both parents working (my mom taught at a local urban high school), it was something along the lines of Monday; chicken sections baked with paprika sprinkled on top, those frozen green beans cooked as you described, Tuesday; frozen cod that came in a cardboard rectangle package thawed, baked with Paprika sprinkled on top, frozen lima beans cooked as you described, Wednesday; pork chops broiled in the oven with paprika sprinkled on top, frozen succotash cooked as you described; Thursday; meatloaf with instant mashed potatoes, frozen Brussel sprouts cooked as you described, etc. Every weekday night the beverage accompanying dinner was orange juice made by adding water to the frozen concentrate in the cardboard cylinder. In order to cope with the blandness, I would get home from school a few hours before my mom did and cook a frozen Tony’s Pizza or sometimes if I was lucky, a pair of Stouffers frozen French bread pizza to get me by.

[Nola_Palomar]

Personally, never a staple, comfort food or on my list of recipes. I love green beans, mushrooms, onions just not that blend. But to those that do, great! To those that found a way to make it better, bravo!!

[Michae1_P0wers]

I agree with those saying it’s disgusting. I have considered doing a “from scratch” version on several occasions to please those who expect it at a family holiday, but always opted for other green vegetable options (usually Brussels which tend to be my favorite). From what Jason says there’s a Serious Eats recipe for it, but I can’t imagine it really takes much in the way of a recipe to figure out how to make that dish from fresh ingredients.