This delicious salad is from Seriouseats.com. The beans get blanched, the squash is raw. The dressing is fabulous.
Ingredients:
Kosher salt 3 medium cloves garlic 2 teaspoons Thai red pepper flakes (more or less to taste) 1 small green Thai chili or 1/2 small Serrano chili, finely chopped 1 tablespoon light brown palm sugar (more or less to taste) 1 tablespoon fish sauce (more or less to taste) 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lime (more or less to taste) All your green beans, cut into 1-inch segments All your summer squash, split in half lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch disks 1 orange or grapefruit, rind removed, cut into segments 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh mint leaves
Preparation:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine garlic, pepper flakes, and Thai chilies and process until smooth. Add sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice, and pound process the sugar is dissolved. Taste dressing and add more sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, or pepper flakes to taste. It should be strongly spicy, sweet, salty, and acidic.
Blanch beans in boiling water until bright green but still extremely crisp, about 1 minute. Drain and run under cold water to chill. Dry well on paper towels or in a salad spinner. Combine beans, squash, orange or grapefruit, mint, and dressing in a large bowl and toss to coat. Serve immediately.