Clean Eating Fancy Green Beans

fancy green beans

Perfect for the holidays, these fancy green beans are dressed up with fried shallots, toasted walnuts and tossed in a simple red wine vinaigrette.

This green bean dish is a healthy alternative to the traditional green bean casserole usually served during the holidays.  Some of our favorite gluten-free Thanksgiving recipes are the perfect roasted turkey recipe a la Martha Stewart with a baste of wine and vegan butter.

And our awesome recipe for really good gluten-free stuffing. I worked hard to get this one right over the years – I promise it is good! Doesn’t it look like good stuffing? You’ll have to check out the blog post for all the secrets to getting it just right.

So I honestly do love normal green bean casserole.  

When I first started cooking years ago, I made casseroles with Campbell’s cream of mushroom or celery soup.  In fact, one of my grad school profs brought a dish (her grandma’s recipe) for a killer zucchini squash casserole to a school potluck party.  

We all raved about it and after she shared the recipe, I made it for years on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  As well as the traditional green bean casserole that my mom taught me to make from the back of the French’s Fried Onions canister.  

Those were some of the first dishes I made for my husband.  But when we started to get really fat and my inflammation was out of control, I starting trying to clean things up.  

So I wanted to find a lighter version for Thanksgiving as a side dish.  Instead of using canned cream of mushroom soup and fried onions that aren’t gluten-free, we use healthier and leaner ingredients.  

The fried shallots replace the breaded fried onions usually found on top a green bean casserole.  The fried shallots actually give you a ton of flavor with a lot less calories.  The walnuts add nice texture and even prebiotics.  #feedthegutbugs

And I love the super simple vinaigrette to toss it in.  So it is a much lighter version that is gluten and dairy-free.

but what if I want a casserole?

Now if you really want to make a casserole, there is a cleaner way to make it without using canned soup.  For a creamy soup make a roux with GF flour, ghee and organic broth.  You could add mushrooms to the sauce and make your own cream of mushroom soup!

Check out how we clean up this white chicken enchilada casserole. Speaking of this casserole, it is great with leftover turkey instead of chicken, too. Add that to your Thanksgiving turkey leftover ideas list. Yum 🙂

If you don’t have time to mess with all of that, I am happy to tell you that Pacific Foods now makes an organic gluten-free condensed cream of mushroom soup.

And if you really do want fried onions, you can use this recipe for fried chicken and okra but substitute onions instead. They turn out pretty amazing.

want more easy side dishes like this?

• Crispy Parmesan Brussels Sprouts
• Bacon Brussels Sprouts
• Mesquite Roasted Asparagus
• Sweet Chili Sauce Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Mom’s sweet carrot rice
• Spinach and Goat Feta Puff Pastry

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Fancy Green Beans | Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free

Perfect for the holidays, these fancy green beans are dressed up with fried shallots, toasted walnuts and tossed in a simple red wine vinaigrette.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword fancy green beans

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 2

Author Deana Larkin Evans

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb green beans, trimmed
• 2 tbsp walnuts, chopped
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 4 tsp olive oil, divided
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp GF stone ground mustard
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Mix together the vinaigrette: 2 tsp olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. In a small cast iron skillet, heat 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced shallots and cook over medium low heat until caramelized. Set aside.
3. Wash and rinse the green beans. Trim off the ends. Bring a large pot of water and 1 tsp olive oil to a boil and add the green beans. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Drain.
4. In another small skillet, toast the chopped walnuts over medium heat for a few minutes. Let cool.
5. Toss together the vinaigrette, green beans, caramelized shallots, walnuts before serving. And there you have it – fancy, healthy green beans everyone will love!