Steal of the Week: Green Bean Artichoke Casserole

I have lived in Virginia in what I suppose is still considered "the South" (although having been further into the actual South I disagree) and growing up I went to my fair share of pot-luck suppers. Whether it was church, a funeral, a fundraiser, a school event..the pot-luck is an event and frankly, these days, in these times an inexpensive way to have a bunch of people over to eat without having to fork over the cash to feed them all!

I actually love making pot-luck meals because I love sharing my cooking. The challenge sometime is the venue (RE: no you should not bring mayonnaise based dish to a picnic outside in August without an ice bath) and/or the audience. Sometimes its a matter of what you have on hand!

Cut to today and a potluck was planned for our church as part of the preschoolers picnic, all families with preschoolers in the Sunday school class or as a part of the school were invited to attend. Hot dogs were provided, we just had to bring a side. Funny how I forgot to grocery shop for anything to make a side dish with!

Yet, I do have a favorite side dish recipe that makes a huge quantity that I found two years ago when searching for a low-carb side dish. Allrecipes.com is a favorite site of mine and I found this recipe for Green Bean Artichoke Casserole. The difference is I omitted the bread crumbs and frankly, you don't need them! The only other change is to reserve about 1/2 cup of the liquid from the artichoke hearts to mix in with the ingredients.

I have made it a million times and it involves stuff I always have on hand: canned French cut green beans, canned artichoke hearts, Parmesan cheese,mozzarella cheese, garlic powder, pepper and salt and olive oil. That's it. Easy side. Easy pot-luck dish....And it's delicious.