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Bon Appétit

The Crunchiest Vegetable Salad

By Chris Morocco

4.1

(19)

Photo of the crunchiest vegetable salad with cucumbers green beans and radishes on a silver platter.
Photo by Alex Lau

The key to this showstopping salad is water. Seriously. Soaking cucumber, radishes, and scallions in ice water helps them deliver incredible crunch and highlights their natural flavors. Blanching green beans (or wax or Romano beans) and sugar snap peas for a bare minute before cold-shocking them revitalizes their color and yields a subtle, tender-crisp bite. Tossed in a toasty, tangy dressing, these vegetables bring texture and flavor to any meal.

Not only is this truly the crunchiest veggie salad, but it also happens to be ideal for anyone who has been advised by their doctor to follow a low-potassium diet because of hyperkalemia. Cucumbers, radishes, and green beans are all low in potassium. “They also contain vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals which can help lower blood pressure, reduce risk of heart disease, and manage kidney disease,” says registered dietitian and renal (kidney) specialist Edith Yang, RD, CSR, CLT. Adding salt to the blanching and chilling water both seasons the vegetables and chills them even further. But if you’ve been advised to watch sodium levels due to heart health, you can swap the soy sauce for a lower sodium version and limit the salt in the blanching water. “You’ll still get tons of flavor from the dressing without that extra salt,” Yang promises.

No matter what, get ready for next-level crunch and vibrant spring flavor.

Editor’s note:

This recipe was originally published in the August 2016 issue of ‘Bon Appétit’ and first appeared on Epicurious in August 2016.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Serves 4

Ingredients

For the vegetables:

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

For the sesame-lime dressing and assembly:

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

Preparation

  1. Prepare the vegetables:

    Step 1

    Place cucumber, radishes, and scallions in a colander set inside a bowl of ice water. Press down on vegetables to submerge. Let soak, stirring occasionally, until very firm and crunchy, at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour. Drain and pat dry.

    Step 2

    Meanwhile, cook beans in a large pot of boiling generously salted water just until their color intensifies and they are barely softened, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, immediately transfer to a large bowl of salted ice water (use about 1 Tbsp. salt for every 2 quarts water).

    Step 3

    Return water in pot to a boil and repeat cooking process with sugar snap peas; add to bowl of ice water with beans. Let vegetables cool; drain and pat dry. Trim beans and remove strings from sugar snap peas. Slice into large pieces on a steep diagonal.

  2. Make the dressing and assemble:

    Step 4

    Whisk lime juice, oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and sugar in a large bowl; season dressing with salt and pepper. Add beans and peas and toss to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Add cucumber, radishes, and scallions and toss to combine. Transfer to a platter.

  3. Do Ahead

    Step 5

    Beans and peas can be blanched 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Dressing can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.

TagsSaladRadishRoot VegetableVegetableGreen BeanBean and LegumeCucumberSugar Snap PeaPeaSideDinnerGluten FreeVegetarianEasySimmerBon Appétit

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