Co-op Cookin’: Green Bean Salad with Mustard Crema

leftover green bean salad with heirloom carrots and tomato-basil sandwich

Growing up we generally had green beans from cans.  Man, they were awful!  I can still feel the weird coating on my teeth and hear the ghastly squeak in my ears as I forced them down… I know canning is a great way to preserve food, but NOT green beans.  Frozen is pretty good, but fresh is really my favorite for this vegetable—and we received a nice big bag each week in our share in August, so I got to try out a few ways beyond amadine (our favorite).

The August issue of Cooking Light had THIS recipe tucked away with farmer’s market recipes.  It’s great as a side on a warm evening or with grilled food, and works well passed around family style.  My husband enjoyed it so much he requested I make it again this weekend.  It’s a keeper of a recipe.

Notes: I’m not a big fan of buying ingredients I won’t use otherwise, so I substituted yogurt that I allowed to thicken by putting in a coffee filter over a mesh strainer for the crème fraîche.  The leftovers in the above photo have a lot of dressing on them, I think because it settled during the intial serving?  At any rate, it was still good.  :)