Thai cucumber and green bean salad with a roasted peanut-citrus dressing and crisped rice vermicelli

This salad, based on a recipe in an American book by Jack Passmore, was a revelation to me. I was curious about it because it uses no oil, lots of sugar and yet promises palate-stimulating excitement. So we knocked up a variation of it, picked at it, and were quite taken aback by the way all these mouth-tingling flavours came together in such a perfect balance. It is probably the most refreshing starter we’ve ever featured, and certainly get