Green Bean Casserole: Polarizing Thanksgiving Side

My mom and I were discussing the Thanksgiving Day menu recently, and I threw out the perennial favorite: green bean casserole. Based on her reaction, you would have thought that I suggested I make a "chocolate pie" from the novel "The Help".

Side note: If you have not read "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett, I encourage you to do so. Spoiler: the "secret" ingredient in the chocolate pie is brown, but it is NOT chocolate. YUCK!

To remind you of the original recipe, using Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup, I googled and copied this directly from www.cambpells.com. So, you can rest assured that it's the authentic one.

The Original Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup or 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Soup

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

• 1 dash black pepper

• 4 cups cooked cut green beans

• 1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions

Instructions:

Step 1: Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.

Step 2: Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the bean mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining onions.

Step 3: Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

It does NOT get any easier than this. And that is why many a new bride, poor college student, or otherwise cookless cook brings this to the family gathering. It's practically a right of passage, not only to make it, but to have to eat it! SO, despite what my mom wants, I am going to make a small dish of this. It is a taste from my past. It is a taste of the future. It is a constant in a tumultuous world. It is, I'm sorry to tell my mom, comfort food.

Tell me what you think of this ubiquitous Thanksgiving stalwart side dish!