Green Beans in Sour Cream

This recipe is from my 1959 copy of the "Farm Journal Country Cookbook".  My book, a first edition, actually has an entire chapter devoted to “Butter and Cream” !!, and another chapter entitled “Milk and Cheese”.  Farm women had contributed recipes for their excellent farm-raised products, without a thought to cholesterol–obesity wasn't an issue; hard farm work took care of that.

 I chose this recipe because I don’t need to have a can of cream soup to make it and the sour cream and lemon peel make a lighter-tasting casserole.

I had a few canned onion rings languishing in my pantry, so I crushed them and used them for the topping; a slice of bread torn into soft bread crumbs and buttered would have been just as good and much less expensive.

This is a nice addition to a meal because it can heat in the oven while you finish the rest of your preparations.

                        Green Beans in Sour Cream

  2        pounds  green beans, cooked -- or 2 cans or pints, drained

  1        medium  onion -- sliced

  2        tablespoons  parsley -- finely chopped

  2        tablespoons  butter

  1        teaspoon  salt

     ¼     teaspoon  pepper

  2        teaspoons  grated lemon peel

  2        tablespoons  flour, all-purpose

  1        cup  sour cream

  1        cup  bread crumbs -- buttered

  1        tablespoon  butter, melted -- for bread crumbs

Put cooked beans in greased 2 quart casserole.

Sauté onion and parsley in butter until lightly browned.  Add salt, pepper, lemon rind, and flour mixed with sour cream.  Heat just until hot.

Spoon cream mixture over beans.  Top with crumbs and bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

6 servings

Per Serving: 263 Calories; 15g Fat (49.4% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 33mg Cholesterol; 599mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat.