Creamy Pasta Salad with Snap Peas, Radishes and Scapes

July 2, 2010 | Side Dishes

I feel honored when my friends and family think of me when they have a culinary question. For example, my dad calls to ask if it’s okay to keep food that he’s mistakenly left at room temperature for a day and a half. Or a friend wants to know how long to broil his fish.

A few days ago, I got a call from my neighbor: “I picked up the CSA share and I got some weird green curly things and I don’t know what to do with them. What are they and what the heck do I do with them?” It didn’t take long for me to figure out she was describing garlic scapes. They’re the curly immature flower stalks of the garlic plant. I told her she should chop them up and use them as she would garlic or onion. They’re great sauteed and folded into scrambled eggs. I also like to finely chop them and add them raw to salads. This week we also got snap peas and radishes from our CSA, so I made this ultra-creamy pasta salad.

Creamy Pasta Salad with Radishes, Snap Peas and Scapes

Makes 9 cups. Active Time: 30 minutes. Total Time 30 minutes.

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta cooking water, divided

1 13-ounce box whole-grain pasta

1 1/2 cup chopped snap peas

1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup sliced radishes

1/4 cup chopped herbs such as cilantro, dill and/or basil

1/4 cup finely chopped garlic scapes or minced scallion

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. In the last minute of cooking add the snap peas. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.
Whisk yogurt, mayonnaise, lime juice, honey and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Stir in radishes, herbs and scapes. Add the pasta and snap peas and stir until coated.