Potato salad with pickled celery and hard-boiled egg

I received a few new cookbooks this holiday season, including Jerusalem, Heart of the Artichoke, Bean by Bean, and Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream at Home. I've already had a chance to try a couple recipes from these books and I can't wait to try more. No matter how many recipes I make, there's always so many more creative ideas out there that I have to try. But before I get to recipes from my new books, I want to share this one from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. This potato salad has pickled celery, grated hard-boiled eggs, and a mustardy dressing. If you're a pickle lover like me and prefer your potato salads mayo-free, this is something you should definitely try.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2013!

Green beans with mustard crema

When I was looking through all the Summer Fest recipes last week, I came across a mention of another blog event called Magazine Mondays, organized by Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice (a very drool-inducing blog). It's simple - basically, every Monday, Ivonne compiles a list of blog posts featuring magazine recipes. I was really excited to find out about this - I subscribe to Food & Wine, Cooking Light, and Bon Appetit, and while I love reading through the magazines every month and always flag interesting recipes, I rarely end up using them. Magazine Mondays might be just the motivation I need!

My entry this week is from the August 2010 issue of Cooking Light. This issue has a feature on recipes inspired by farmers' markets, which is right up my alley. This recipe was created by a chef in Boulder, CO, but it is perfect for the gorgeous green beans that I have been buying here in MA. It's simple, quick, and tasty, with subtle flavors that don't mask the fresh taste of the beans. I think this dish would be a nice accompaniment to almost anything.

I used sour cream instead of creme fraiche here, just based on what I could get at the store. I also increased the amounts of the thyme and almonds because I really like how they taste with beans. Next time, I might increase the amount of mustard as well - I would have liked the flavor to come out a bit more. I'd recommend tasting the dressing and adjusting to your preference.