Springtime Chive & Egg Pasta Salad

This Chive & Egg Pasta Salad is like springtime in a bowl. Celebrate the first clump of bright green chives or green onions returning to the garden and the first crunchy radishes by combining them in this joyous salad loaded with fresh and delicate spring flavours. It's a great addition to an outdoor barbecue feast or a campfire meal. (Skip to recipe.)

Spring is exploding in our yard! Every direction I turn there are new colourful signs of life a'greening. Here in northern Alberta our spring and fall are very short - sometimes it seems like only two weeks long - but what a glorious two weeks they are. We go from cold, wintry 0° degree weather to fully green in just a matter of days sometimes.

Our hens are laying lots of eggs right now, so I'm using them everywhere. The new batch of 'teenage' chickens are still in their own little pen, soon to be moved in with the old ladies.

I love using the abundance of fresh eggs with their bright yellow yolks and the first spring chives in this pretty pasta salad. Chives are much milder than onions, so I can be generous and add big handfuls to the salad without overpowering it.

This pasta salad makes a great side dish for spring and summer barbecues, or serve it with sliced ham and raw veggie sticks as a light meal.

Chive & Egg Pasta Salad is Springtime in a Bowl

Just a few simple ingredients are needed for this delicate and tangy pasta salad: cooked pasta, boiled eggs, a bunch of crunchy radishes and a big handful of chives.

Chop up the chives - they're really mild and give just the right amount of springtime onion flavour.

Thinly slice up a bunch of crunchy radishes. If you have a mandoline, this job just takes a quick minute.

Then separate the boiled egg yolks from the egg whites. Chop up the whites.

And mash the yolks with a fork,

and add a bit of water to make a creamy golden puree.

Add a splash of white wine vinegar, oil, mustard, and seasoning to turn it into a creamy dressing with just the right amount of tanginess. Pour it over the pasta salad ingredients.

Give it a quick toss, and there's your fantastic springtime salad, loaded with bright flavour.

Let's celebrate spring and go have our pasta salad outside on the deck, under the shade of the linden trees, while we listen to the birds chirping in the forest beyond and the ice tinkling in the cool drink in our glass.

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A few other ways to use up those extra hard-boiled eggs:

Eiersalat - German Egg Salad with Apples and Pickles

Creamy Egg and Quinoa Bake

Bacon, Egg, and Spinach Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Ham ‘n Egg Salad with Flax Crackers

Classic Pickled Eggs

Turmeric Pickled Eggs

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Kitchen Frau Notes: Use any small pasta shapes for this salad - macaroni, shells, corkscrews, etc.

Springtime Chive & Egg Pasta Salad

• 2 cups (8 oz/250gms) uncooked macaroni or other short pasta shape, gluten-free or regular (4 cups cooked)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 bunch radishes (~1 cup/150 grams thinly sliced radishes)
• 1½ - 2 cups finely sliced chives (or only the green parts of spring onions/scallions/green onions)
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) water
• 6 tablespoons (90ml) oil (I like avocado oil)
• 3 tablespoons (45ml) white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

Cook the pasta in lightly salted water according to package directions. Drain the pasta and immediately rinse it well under cold running water until it is cooled. Drain well again. Set aside.

Boil the eggs: Use this easy method to steam the eggs so they peel perfectly every time. Immediately drain and cover the eggs with cold water. Keep changing the water until it stays cold. Leave the eggs to cool in the water for 10 minutes, then peel. Separate the yolks from the whites. Chop the whites coarsely, and set the yolks aside in a small bowl.

Trim the radishes (leave a bit of the stem on for a handle while you slice them). Slice the radishes as finely as you can - a mandoline works really well for this.

Slice the chives very finely.

Make the dressing: Mash the 4 hard boiled egg yolks with a fork, then add a bit of the water at a time, continually mashing, to get a smooth paste. Add in the oil, a bit at a time and whisking constantly, until you get a thick golden mass. Add the vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper and whisk it all together to make a creamy vinaigrette.

Assemble the pasta salad: Put the cooked pasta, chopped egg whites, sliced radishes, and sliced chives into a large bowl. Pour the dressing overtop, and toss to coat everything well. Allow the salad to rest for about 30 minutes for the flavours to mellow and combine, toss again and serve. The salad can be made several hours ahead, if desired.

This salad keeps well, refrigerated, for 1-2 days (after that the radishes lose their crunch and turn pinkish in colour).

Serves 6 to 8 (Makes 7 cups of pasta salad).

Guten Appetit!

 

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