Recipe: Southern-style green bean casserole

Who needs to use Thanksgiving as an excuse to make this delectably simple green-bean casserole?  While I probably wouldn't recommend this as a summer side dish, this Southern staple is suitable to serve from fall to early spring. 

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Ingredients

• 2-16 oz. bags of French-cut string beans (*cook beans on stove according to package directions  *instead of water, I use chicken stock that I season, to taste, with ground black pepper and sea salt, to enhance the flavor  *drain beans after cooking)
• 1-10.5 oz. can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 6 slices of Kraft Deli Deluxe American Cheese Singles
• 1/2 cup Ritz Cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoons salted butter, cut in to dice-sized cubes

Spray non-stick cooking spray in an 11x7" glass baking pan.  In a separate bowl, combine the first three ingredients and stir to blend.  Pour in to glass pan.  Cover evenly with cheese slices, so mixture underneath is not visible.  Now, evenly top with Ritz Cracker crumbs.  Dot casserole with cubed butter.

Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 30-minutes. 

Serves 10