Asparagus and pasta canoodle in this elegant spring dish

I was noodling vegetables using a knife and a peeler long before spiralizers came on the scene or pre-cut zoodles could be found in the grocery store, and I am thrilled that they are so popular now.

But while vegetable noodles can give you a pasta-like effect in many dishes, for me they will never take the place of actual pasta with its comforting al dente heartiness. Luckily, they don't need to, because pasta and vegetable noodles are not the either-or proposition some would lead you to believe they are. They happen to work wonders together, as this sumptuous spring pasta dish so elegantly proves.

In it, asparagus stalks are shaved with a vegetable peeler into thin strips. The asparagus “noodles” and the trimmed spears are cooked until firm-tender in a lemon, garlic and white wine reduction. The saucy mixture is then tossed with crabmeat, tarragon, parsley and just-cooked whole-grain fettuccine or spaghetti. The final dish is fragrant with fresh herbs, has a light brightness from the citrus, is generously heaped with crab and studded with the green asparagus tips.

The asparagus noodles mingle seamlessly with the ribbons of pasta, amplifying the overall portion and filling your bowl while a relatively modest amount of pasta is used. Together, they make for a tremendously satisfying and healthfully balanced spring meal.