Yet another comfort food. Tulika-fied.

Don't you ever feel the need to eat some form of a delicious and completely unhealthy food when you're stressed out about school?

I do.

And then I get to work and attempt to make something. Today I did just that. Except, I also attempted to make it healthy. I'd like to think it was quite successful.

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

• fresh green beans, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• 1 slice whole grain bread, toasted
• 1 tablespoon vegan butter (Smart Balance, Earth Balance)
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons flour (I used whole wheat)
• frozen mushrooms
• fresh spinach
• 1/4 block tofu, chopped finely
• salt/pepper/chili flakes to taste

Boil a pot of water and add salt and chopped green beans. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes.

Then put this into a colander and drain the water. Rinse with cold water and then set this aside.

In a separate pan, heat olive oil and add garlic, mushrooms, and spinach. I would have added more mushrooms, but I ran out of frozen mushrooms. So I added a lot of spinach.

Mix together almond milk, flour, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and water. Pour into the pan with the veggies. [Side note: vegetable broth is typically used instead of water, but I didn't have any. So that's why I added nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper--just to enhance the flavor.]

Chop the tofu and add it in to thicken the sauce.

Add the green beans. Stir, then transfer this into a baking dish. Don't forget the non-stick spray!

In a food processor, combine the slice of bread, Smart Balance, salt, and pepper. Blend until crumbled.

Top the green bean mixture with the crumbles.

Bake at 425F for 15-20 minutes.

Crispy and creamy.

I'll admit, I've never actually had green bean casserole. But according to Alyssa, my healthy, vegan version tastes like the real thing, so I'll take her word for it!

This doesn't taste healthy at all. But it is. So you might as well just eat the whole pan. (Just kidding--everything in moderation)!