The Crunchiest Vegetable Salad

 

 

We arrived home from Maui to a couple of oddities.

First, the weather in Colorado has been positively incendiary for early June. We’re talking mid-to-upper 90’s every dang day. June is usually mild and quite lovely, but we’re melting over here, particularly one little, fluffy dog. Poor Mozz-man has been hanging out in the bathroom because the tile floor is cold on his tender, wee belly. I can’t say I blame him. Weather like this makes me highly nervous, considering it’s wildfire season in the Rocky Mountains, and we’re well under normal levels for snowpack. We already have a couple of fires burning strong and summer’s barely begun. Luckily, Mother Nature has a few days of rain in the forecast this week, so I’m hoping the ground will get the drink it desperately needs.

Another peculiarity upon our return was the discovery that we have a poltergeist in our kitchen. It’s currently living in our oven and it’s causing all sorts of mischief. Sometimes the oven will work, sometimes it won’t, and sometimes it will work for a few minutes and then turn off spontaneously. When I go down to the basement electrical box and flip the breaker back and forth, it will re-start, only to fizzle out again two minutes later. Repeat process. It’s annoying as Hell and I’m not sure if it’s an oven issue or an electrical issue. The gas burners on top of the stove work fine. So who to call? The appliance guy? The electrician? An exorcist? Sometimes home ownership is completely confounding.

I mean, it’s so hot out that I’m not wanting to bake anything for an extended period of time, but it might be nice to stick a pizza in the oven or warm some bread once in a while.

The third oddity falls more into the “Bodily Assholery” category, although it’s just me who’s afflicted. The day after we got home from vacation, I developed a weird rash all over both of my legs. At first it was just the calves, but then it traveled down to my feet. Sometimes it itched, sometimes it just felt hot, and sometimes it just looked unsightly and I didn’t feel anything. I’ve been slathering cortisone cream and aloe vera gel all over those areas and it’s getting better. Then the ocular migraines started.

Ever had an ocular migraine?

You don’t want one. Feels like you’ve taken an ice pick and jammed it directly in your eyeball. It’s excruciating. I’ve only developed this bad bit of business within the past year, and I’ve been averaging about one every three months, which sucks but is something I can live with.

But since we got back from Hawaii, I’ve been getting one every 2-3 days. Not okay, man. Not okay at all.

All of this weirdness means a lot of takeout meals and low-maintenance cooking like salads and sandwiches. And while it’s really too hot out to want to spend more than a few minutes in the kitchen anyways, it’s a little depressing.

The one bright spot in the last couple of weeks is that I decided to try this salad recipe and it’s easy, fast and amazingly tasty. I was a little skeptical, since it’s pretty simple-sounding but everything about it just works.

It was so refreshing and crunchy and addictive that my Daddy-o and I polished off almost an entire bowl of it during a Sunday lunch. I feel quite confident saying that we could have made it into meal with just the addition of a cheese plate and some bread. And hey, if I don’t get that oven issue resolved, we just might be doing that an awful lot.

Even if you don’t have a kitchen poltergeist or some other oddity in your life, make this salad. It’ll become a summer staple.

 

 

The Crunchiest Vegetable Salad

serves 4

from Bon Appetit Magazine

 

Veg:

1/2 English hothouse cucumber, very thinly sliced

4 radishes, trimmed and very thinly sliced

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 pound snap beans (such as green or wax)*

Kosher salt

4 ounces sugar snap peas

 

Dressing:

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds (I like the black ones, just because how cool are they?)

1/4 teaspoon sugar

Kosher salt and black pepper

 

Place cucumber, radishes and scallions in a colander set in a bowl of ice water (use about 1 tablespoon salt for every 2 quarts water). Press down on the vegetables to submerge and let them sit for 15 minutes or up to an hour, stirring occasionally. Drain and pat dry.

Meanwhile, cook the beans in a large pot of salted water just until the color brightens, about a minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beans to ice water.

Add snap peas to the boiling water and take them out when their color intensifies (again about a minute). Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to the ice bath with the beans. Allow them to completely cool and then drain and pat dry. Trim the beans and remove the strings from the snap peas. Slice on the diagonal.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together and add to the vegetables. Toss to coat. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.

*If, like me, you cannot find any decent green beans in the grocery store, just use the same amount of snap peas or snow peas. Or bump up the ratio of cucumber/radish. Be flexible!