Same Ingredients, Different Recipes #2: Green Bean Slaw (Localized)

The ingredients below are going to sound familiar. I used nearly the same ingredients two nights later to make a totally different dish (which I posted yesterday--I know, in the wrong order, but that's how it goes sometimes).

This was my totally local meal for Monday. I've taken a fantastic recipe from Heidi Swanson and turned it into a local foods delight. This meant modifying the existing recipe, not significantly, but enough to give it a different feel. Sometimes this is what eating local means, sometimes it means throwing out recipes you've made a million times because the ingredients aren't seasonal (I know, I love eggplant parm in the winter too...) and choosing to make recipes that highlight what is in season at the moment.

The rules of the Locavore Challenge are that all food must be local, but there are two exceptions. Exception 1: "The Marco Polo Rule". Spices, yeasts, baking sodas/powders, etc are exempt. Exception 2: "Wild Cards": 5 foods you cannot live without. I've been struggling to figure out whether vinegar counts a spice/flavoring agent under the Marco Polo Rule. I've decided it does.

So the changes I made to this recipe are:
1) Omitted the raisins (given the number of wineries in NYS, I should be able to find local raisins...but alas, no raisins for me)
2) Swapped shaved Parmesan for shaved almost-local aged cheddar
3) Swapped the walnuts for local sunflower kernels
4) Doubled the amount of arugula
5) Swapped strained yogurt for the creme fraiche (I can get delicious local creme fraiche. I just didn't have any).
6) Omitted the croutons, because I ate it with freshly baked bread

All in all, it was a good experiment in "localizing" a recipe. Although, I must have a much bigger appetite than the people who originally ate this, or my cabbage was much smaller. Given how much dressing I had left over, I'm going to go with the latter. I'll get about 4 servings out of this, not 6-8.

Green Bean Slaw (Localized)
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks


1/2 a small head of cabbage, finely shredded
2 T white wine vinegar
1/2 lb green beans, ends trimmed and sliced very thinly
2 big handfuls of arugula, roughly chopped
3/4 c toasted sunflower kernels
freshly ground black pepper
small slivers of aged cheddar, taken from a larger block with a vegetable peeler

Dressing:
yolk of one hard boiled egg
3 T strained plain yogurt or Greek yogurt
1/3 c olive oil
1 1/2 T white wine vinegar
1/4 t salt

Blanch the green bean slices by plunging them into boiling, salted water for about 20 seconds, and then rinsing with cold water. Set aside.

Toss the cabbage with the vinegar in a large bowl. Set aside while you make the dressing (about 10 minutes).

Mix together the dressing. First mash the egg and yogurt together. Then whisk in the olive oil (here I started to get worried...the oil and the egg yogurt mixture weren't incorporating--don't worry, they will once you add the vinegar). Whisk in the vinegar and salt. Set aside.

Add the green beans to the cabbage. Toss. Add about 2/3 of the dressing. Toss again. Add the arugula, sunflower kernels and some freshly ground black pepper. Toss again. Taste and adjust seasoning or add more dressing.

Serve topped with shaved cheddar.

Serves 4