vegan thanksgiving: creamy caramelized onion gravy over roasted snap peas and green beans

i never much liked the traditional green bean casserole, with it’s soggy canned beans and overly creamy sauce.  yet i could never help but mentally group it in the upper echelon of thanksgiving foods.  it has somehow always seemed just as essential to the dinner as stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy, it was just a shame i didn’t enjoy it as much.

but this year, when i started brainstorming what i wanted to cook, i couldn’t help remembering vegan yum yum’s decontructed green bean casserole from last year.  which inspired me to reinvent the dish the way i wanted it.

i took advantage of two forms of cooking that have been obsessed with lately – caramelizing and roasting.  sure i have to wait the better part of an hour before i can eat, but for the taste of slow cooked food, it’s worth it.  and as the whether cools down and daylight hours shrink significantly, i appreciate every extra ounce of warmth that my food can absorb before it hits the plate.  this is truly my definition of comfort food.

creamy caramelized onion gravy
1 large yellow onion
3 large cipollini onions
1/4 c vegan margarine (like earth balance)
1/4 c olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp flour
1/2 c veggie broth
1 c soy milk

roasted snap peas and green beans
3/4 lb green beans
3/4 lb snap peas
olive oil
salt
pepper

start with the onions, because those will take the longest.  remove the skin and chop them up into small slices.  i love cipollini onions because they are tiny and cute.  but i hate them because they are so awfully hard to peal.  that’s why i try to pick out the largest ones i can. if you can’t find cipollinis then use an extra half of a yellow onion.  remember that they will cook down significantly from their size when raw.

melt the margarine and oil over high heat, then toss in the chopped onions.  mix around for a minute to make sure the onions are evenly coated, and so they’ve gotten a chance to warm up a bit.

cover, reduce the heat to medium and let sit for about 45 minutes.  check on them and stir every 5-10 minutes (every 2-3 minutes towards the end) until they are much smaller in size, brown, translucent and sweet.

toss in the salt and stir around, then sift in the flour and mix well.  add the veggie broth and turn up the heat to warm it up, but reduce the heat a little if it begins to bubble too much.  do the same with the soy milk and then cook down until it’s the consistency you’d like.  then you can set it aside and re-heat upon serving.

while the onions are cooking, start in on the the beans and peas, by removing the stems.  you can “de-string” your peas if you’d like but i eat them as is.  wash and drain well, then place them in a large bowl and toss them with a drizzle of olive oil and a healthy sprinkle of salt and pepper.

lay them out on a pan covered in aluminum foil or parchment paper, and bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes.  mix and turn halfway to ensure even cooking.  i stuffed them all on one tray but lost a few in the process, so it would be best to use two trays.

bake until starting to wrinkle and get slightly brown around the edges, but they should still be green.

serve the beans and peas with the gravy over them and top with bread crumbs if you’d like.  enjoy with friends and family!

serves 4-6 as a side