Recipe Thursday: Summer Pasta Salad with Lemon-Mustard Dressing

I think anywhere else (besides Canada and Alaska), this might be called Spring Pasta Salad but for us, the peas come in just at the beginning of Summer. For those of us who put them in a little late and don’t have covers (ahem), we are likely only to get one batch off these vines but I put in plenty so that equalled a couple of pounds of peas (snap and snow this year).

We’ve already made this salad a couple of times, it’s so good. I’ll probably wait a couple more weeks and then seed peas again for a Fall picking. Meanwhile the rest of the garden is catching up to the peas — the Ground Cherries have already bloomed and are making fruit pods, the peppers are standing tall, the Tatsoi and Purple Pac Choi are growing nicely in their sweet little rows, and the dry beans are starting to vine. The corn is maybe knee-high to a 5 year old but that’s ok, it’s a shorter strand (and I probably got that in a little late, too), but the tomato plants in buckets are huge! I expect great things.

The flower and herb gardens around are doing their perennial thing — the Sweet William is taking over a front porch flower box (no complaints from me or the butterflies!), the Pink Beardtongue (aka Clarkia) is wooing the hummingbirds, the Orange Daylilys are up and about, the volunteer St. John’s Wort and Mullein are lovely in their yellow blooms, and the Scarlet Bee Balm is making its own fireworks display up the drive. I hear the red Raspberries are starting to fruit (just after the wild Strawberries have ceased).

Which, is all to say, that a pasta salad full of lovely green things sounds like a great match for late Spring/early Summer (or really any time as many of these additions can be seasonal). We started here with fresh peas, garlic scapes, and asparagus, then added artichoke hearts, chickpeas, and lovely lemony-mustardy dressing. I could add Feta or black Kalamata olives to this and not be upset, too. You could also switch up the chickpeas for a firm white or butter bean, use either frozen petite peas or snow peas (instead of fresh snap), green onion, green beans (fresh or frozen, regular or haricot vert but I wouldn’t do French cut), broccoli or cauliflower, etc. Add all kinds of fresh little herbs — Chives, Thyme, Marjoram, Tarragon, Savory, Parsley, etc. Have it as its own meal or pair it with a big piece of safe-source fish or something grilled. Leftovers are delicious.

Summer Pasta Salad with Lemon-Mustard Dressing
Serves 6

• 1lb. of Pasta of your choice though for pasta salad, I prefer something medium with many grooves to hold all the good flavor — like Fusilli or Rotini, Penne or Farfalle, etc
• 1lb. of Fresh Asparagus, chopped into 1.5″ on a bias (diagonal cut)
• 1/2lb Fresh Snap Peas (stem trimmed/string removed if necessary) or 1 cup frozen petite peas
• 1 can (14 oz) Artichoke Hearts (I prefer quartered and then chop them in half, if you get whole — quarter them, and then chop them in half again — you want some chunks)
• 1 can (14 oz) chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed
• 3-4 Tbsp Dijon Mustard (if I get about halfway down a little bottle, I know it’s time to make this salad — then I put all the dressing ingredients into the bottle with the mustard and shake it up, then use, I can add more to taste this way, too, or have some left over)
• 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1-2 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
• 4 young Garlic Scapes or Green Onion tops, chopped small
• 2 Tbsp fresh chopped herbs (I used Parsley and Marjoram this time, and I like to destem them and throw the leaves into a coffee cup and then use my kitchen scissors to chop them up in the cup, then use)
• 7 oz. fresh Feta (Pumpkin Vine Family Farm makes the best goat feta on the planet, I usually drain but save a Tbsp or 2 of the whey) (optional)
• Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Cook the pasta per directions to al dente. About halfway through boiling (about 4-5 min.) add any frozen veg or broccoli, after 6 min. add fresh veg (asp, snap peas, cauli, green beans, etc) and finish cooking. Drain and rinse in cold water, drain again. Then transfer to a big bowl.

While the pasta is cooking, get the dressing together — add the mustard, lemon juice, and vinegar (and whey, if using) to a small bowl and whisk or into a dressing bottle (or mason jar) and shake.

Add the artichokes, chickpeas, scapes or green onions to the still warm but drained pasta and veg. Stir in a good amount of the dressing, add salt & pepper and herbs. Taste for more seasoning or dressing. Add Feta and/or olives if using.

We could eat this pasta salad all day.