The Crunchiest Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

• ½ English hothouse cucumber, very thinly sliced
• 4 small radishes, trimmed, very thinly sliced
• 2 scallions, very thinly sliced
• 1 pound mixed snap beans (such as green, wax, and/or Romano)
• Kosher salt
• 4 ounces sugar snap peas
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Steps

Vegetables

1. Set a colander in a bowl of ice water and put cucumber, radishes and scallions in it. Press to submerge, then soak with occasional stirring until very firm and crunchy, at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour. Drain and pat dry.
2. Meanwhile, boil generously salted water in a large pot. Cook beans just until their colour intensifies and they barely soften, about 1 minute. Immediately lift with a slotted spoon into a large bowl of salted ice water, using about 1 Tbsp. salt for every 2 quarts water.
3. Bring the pot water back to a boil and cook sugar snap peas the same way. Add to the beans' ice water and let cool, then drain and pat dry. Trim beans and remove strings from the peas; cut into large pieces on a steep diagonal.
4. For advance preparation, blanch beans and peas 2 days ahead, then cover and chill.

Dressing and Assembly

1. In a large bowl, whisk lime juice, oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds and sugar. Season with salt and pepper, add beans and peas and toss to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Toss in cucumber, radishes and scallions to combine and move to a platter.
2. The dressing can be prepared 2 days ahead; keep covered and chilled.