Instructions: Cook green beans in salted boiling water until crisptender about 4 minutes. Drain under cold water and let cool.

In a large bowl combine penne green beans onion zucchini pepper tomato olives and capers.

In a food processor or blender process all vinaigrette ingredients until smooth. Pour over pasta and toss well.

Taste for salt and pepper.

Let salad sit for about 2 hours at room temperature before serving.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

seeding tomatoes:
Cut tomatoes in half and squeeze seeds from each half.

Anyone who has ordered veal piccata knows the moment of hope that this time maybe there will be enough capers in the sauce. But like most caper containing dishes it usually arrives with a minor sprinkling of the pungent little pearls just enough to refresh the memory about how good capers are and how much better more would be. This miserly allocation stems from concerns more economic than gastronomic: Capers are expensive. This is because the viney caper plant which grows wild in poor soil and rock piles requires close attention and hand tending to catch the buds just before they bloom. Although the flowers are beautiful (lush white petals with bright violet stamens) to caper fans every bloom is a morsel lost. Caper addicts love this richly delicious pasta salad in which capers abound though it is always possible to sneak in a few more.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.