Taste Spring!

Crunchy, smooth, zesty and cool: It's green bean and lemon pasta salad. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

So here we are again, in "I don't want to turn on the stove" season. But we still have to eat. And fresh vegetables are so wonderful this time of year, the last of the spring produce overlapping with the first summer varieties.

This pasta salad, adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe, fits the bill for a light dinner side dish without too much cooking. Adjust the ingredients to suit personal tastes. Add some sliced grilled chicken or diced ham for an entree salad that keeps things cool.

Green bean and lemon pasta salad

Serves 4-6, easily doubled

Ingredients:

6 to 8 ounces fresh green beans, yellow wax beans, or a combination

Coarse salt

8 to 12 ounces curvy dried pasta, such as cellentani, orecchiette or elbow macaroni

Grated zest of 1 lemon (Meyer or tart)

Juice of 1 large or 2 medium lemons (Meyer or tart)

Garlic scapes are the flower stalks of hardneck garlic.

3/8 cup or more extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

4 garlic scapes, trimmed and thinly sliced, or 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion or sliced chives

2 tablespoons, or more, toasted almonds, pine nuts or walnuts, finely chopped

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Mixed baby greens, for serving, optional

Instructions:

Prepare an ice-water bath by filling a large bowl halfway with ice cubes and adding enough water to float the ice.

Bring a 4-quart pot of salted water to boil. Trim the green beans and cut into 2-inch pieces. Blanch the green beans about 4 minutes, just until tender. Use a slotted spoon to remove the beans from the boiling water and add them to the ice-water bath to cool, then remove them to another bowl and reserve. Do not drain the boiling water from the pot on the stove.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad.

Add the dried pasta to the boiling water and cook just to al dente texture. Drain the pasta, then spread it on a large rimmed baking sheet. Put the pan in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes, to cool the pasta, but not so long that the pasta becomes very cold. (The dressing will be absorbed better if the pasta is still room temperature.) Transfer the cooled pasta to the preferred serving dish, and stir in the green beans.

Whisk together the lemon juice, zest and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Season with black pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Taste; adjust seasonings.

Drizzle about half of the dressing over the salad and toss gently. Sprinkle the sliced scapes or chopped onion or chives over the pasta, followed by about half of the nuts and half the Parmesan cheese. Add more dressing to taste. Toss again.

To serve as a first-course salad, place a handful of mixed baby greens on each salad plate and spoon the pasta salad over the greens. Top each salad with some of the remaining nuts and Parmesan.

Alternately, pass the serving bowl of pasta salad with the rest of the nuts and Parmesan sprinkled on top as garnish.