I stopped by Forgers in DUMBO on my way back from work last week and was really enamored by the amount of fresh local and organic ingredients available.  I only had a few minutes to pick up dinner (even though I could've easily stayed there all night), and the heat wave had me craving something with minimal heat preparation.  I put together this bean salad -- a modified version of Yvette Van Boven's bean salad --filled with fresh sugar snap peas, bright and crunchy radishes, and a homemade dressing.  Preparation under twenty minutes, low heat cooking, and great as a starter or a side.  

Bean Salad with "Caesar" Dressing serves 4-6; total time: 20 minutes

1/2 pound of String beans 1 pound fresh fava beans 1 bunch (7-10) radishes 1/4 cup sweet peas 1/2 sugar snap peas A few sprigs of flat leaf parsley

For dressing* 8 ounces of non-fat sour cream (substitute with silken tofu for even lower calorie) Juice of 1 organic lemon 1/2 a block of fresh parmesan cheese 1 clove of garlic 2 teaspoon of salt 4 sprigs of flat leaf parsley Pepper, to taste

Prepare a large bowl of ice water, set aside.  Bring 4 cups of water and a few pinches of salt to a boil. Blanch beans -- string beans, sugar snap peas, and fava beans for no longer than 2-3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove beans and place into ice water bath. Once beans have fully cooled, remove from ice water bath and drain.  Mix in radishes, sweet peas and parsley to the beans, set aside.

Prepare dressing by processing all the ingredients -- sour cream, parmesan lemon, garlic salt, and pepper. Toss a few tablespoons of the dressing together with the bean salad.

*This recipe will give you extra dressing which I placed in a mason jar and refrigerated.