Do you think something like this (sans mushrooms) would be too "onion-y?" I mean the traditional topping is canned french fried onion rings . . . but I know not everyone makes it like that . . . . https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a80624/thanksgiving-dinner-green-bean-casserole/

I’m so sorry for your loss.You of course know your audience better than anyone else but I wonder if you could use the green beans as a side dish and maybe use the ham and bacon in some familiar comfort food like a bisquik impossible pie? I KNOW that you could easily make something more gourmet than that, but it doesnt sound like this group would enjoy it (“folks around here dont like foregn foods…sigh”)

I would never put white sauce on green beans, but often steam them with cooked diced bacon and onions.

Whatever you make know that not everyone will like everything....but green bean casserole is well loved by almost all. I can't even imagine how good it might be with fresh green beans, home made white sauce and real mushrooms!

I'm sorry for your loss.Perhaps take the beans as a side with a simple braised chicken dish, or a cauliflower cheese gratin, or a salad like this? https://www.thekitchn.com/italian-potato-salad-23182659

I like foreign foods :-) but hate mushrooms and gloppy casseroles even if home made. Make what they will eat. Green beans as a Side. Meat, a Starch.

Islay, I love those marinated green bean salads with potatoes!! There's "Greek" which I make with maybe olives or feta crumbles, or the one you posted "Italian" but I know my friends will not be able to wrap their heads around potato salad with a vinegar and oil dressing let alone tomatoes added . . . sigh. I also like green beans "Turkish" style, slow cooked with tomatoes and onions.

I think I might do it with the twisty pasta I think they call it "gemelli" and then bacon and lightly dressed with a fettuccine style cheesy white sauce.

Pasta carbonara would also be wonderful with green beans added but I don't know about reheating. I googled a bunch of green bean recipes, I should have grown more beans!! We usually just have one or two meals with them steamed with a little butter and salt.

Edited to add that Lone Jack's idea is also good, using new potatoes. It has the benefit of easily reheating. Pasta tends to dry out in my experience.

A number of years ago, AnnT posted a recipe for a Greek dish called Fasolakia. I don't have it stored on my computer, but this one is similar. It has green beans, potatoes and tomatoes. Delicious!! https://www.olivetomato.com/greek-style-green-beans-fasolakia-lathera/

seagrass

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, Lpink. I made an accidental salad years ago that is amazingly good for being so simple. I had some blanched cauliflower and green beans left after freezing tossed with Italian dressing (blanched 3 min.). It's still a favorite when the garden comes on.

L, I'm sorry to hear you've lost a friend, and at that age, that's younger than me. (sigh) His friends and family will be in my prayers.

As for green beans, I've always like the dish Jack described. Grandma often made green beans with new potatoes and a ham bone or pork hock, served with fresh homemade bread. If she didn't have a pork hock, she'd add some onion and make creamed potatoes and green beans, I liked that too but that was more a side dish.

When we still camped, we used to make those foil packets with green beans, red potatoes, sliced onions and pieces of smoked sausage, I'm sure it can be cooked stove top or in a crockpot instead. I've also done a "sheet pan" meal with green beans, chicken or sausage, roasted potatoes, then everyone can pick out what they want.

Annie

Well, the new potato, green bean, red onion bacon mixture is in the crockpot right now. We'll see how it turns out. Seasoned with Mr. Dash garlic and herb and with a little chicken broth in the bottom. I'll probably add a healthy dash of parmesean cheese once its cooked. I like the idea of roasting a bunch of stuff in a sheet pan for us. What I like about this dish is it goes in a big pan, easily reheated and eaten either as a main or side. I'm going to make raspberry bars too, although I'm using some cranberry strawberry jam I have in excess.

The worst thing about my friend is he was sick for years. It was one of those things where your body degenerates. He was a brave man of faith with an awesome sense of humor. It's so sad because my friend lost her Dad to the same disease. Well, we just have to try and take one day at a time.

I think I went a little bit overboard on the bacon. I didn't realize how much the beans would cook down in the crockpot. I didn't take a photo because frankly it wasn't very photogenic but it tasted good. When I told my friend's husband that I hoped they liked bacon because the dish was a little "bacon heavy" he said, "A lot of bacon is a good thing." So I think it will be something they will like. I also made some bar cookies with an almond crumble topping over strawberry/cranberry jam.

I may take a salad over later in the week. It's a very tough time for my friend's mother, she lost both her husband and son to this awful disease (Huntington's).