‘It tastes like potato salad’ was Rich’s (positive) comment.
‘It is MUCH healthier’ was my thought – and before you go all jumpin’ up and down about the mayonnaise and the sour cream – I have one answer: pffffft! I maintain that the stuff they add to ‘lite’ sour cream and mayonnaise to make it ‘lighter’ is, in fact, worse for you in the long run than the extra fat or whatever is in the regular; and besides – this dressing goes a long way, and once you’ve divvied the servings up, you aren’t getting THAT much of the ‘bad’ stuff anyway.
So there.
Traditionally, green goddess dressing is made with anchovies, tarragon and chervil. This recipe from Gourmet Magazine (oh, how I miss you Ruth Reichl) via epicurious.com tossed out the tarragon and chervil in favor of parsley; so I felt completely secure in my decision to toss out the anchovies in favor of fish sauce, and to replace the fresh parsley with an adjusted amount of dried, plus a sprinkling of chives.
Delicious.
I had a nice bag of petit haricot verts in the downstairs freezer it was time to use, and thought this salad a nice option. It all went together quickly and easily (especially with my admitted self-dispensation to use the ingredients I had on hand), and it really DOES taste a bit like potato salad! Fresh parsley would have been really nice in this, but we muddled through.
INGREDIENTS
•1-1/2 lb green beans, trimmed – I used a frozen 1 lb bag of whole petit haricot verts
•1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
•1/4 cup mayonnaise
•1/4 cup sour cream
•1-1/2 tsp red wine or cider vinegar
•1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
•1/2 tsp anchovy paste – I used KA•ME fish sauce
•1/4 tsp salt
•1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Purée parsley, mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, lemon juice, anchovy paste, salt, and pepper in a blender until smooth.
Cook beans in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water , uncovered, until just tender, but still quite green, 4 to 8 minutes.
Drain in a colander and immediately transfer to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking. When beans are cool, drain in 
the colander and pat dry. I let ours drain for an hour or so and then dabbed ‘em quite a bit with a clean towel.
You can make the sauce 1 day ahead, cover and chill, which I think would be a good idea. I would also note that (maybe because I used a bag of frozen beans?) this made way more dressing than was needed, so watch when you toss it with the beans – we liked the way this turned out, but I thought I had been a touch heavy-handed with the dressing. It’s all up to personal taste, I guess.
Oh, and I think a sprinkle of crushed red pepper when serving would be kinda cunning; and tasty too.