Pasta with Green Vegetables and Herbs

Description
Mixing aromatic herbs like mint and basil with asparagus and peas creates a beautiful green dish. Salty feta sparks it up.

ChupaNote: the only change I made to this recipe was to replace the black pepper with 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes. I ended up sprinkling more on the finished dish. I used whole wheat pasta.
 * Contributed by Healthy Recipes for Diabetic Friends Y-Group
 * Source: Gourmet, Quick Kitchen, June 2007
 * Formatted by Chupa Babi in MC: 06.20.07
 * Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

 * 1 pound thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch pieces
 * 1 cup frozen peas
 * 1 pound linguine
 * 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
 * 1 cup packed fresh mint leaves
 * ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
 * ¾ teaspoon salt
 * ¾ teaspoon black pepper
 * 4½ ounces feta, crumbled (1 cup)
 * ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
 * 3 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

 * 1) Cook asparagus in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling well-salted water until just tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
 * 2) Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large heatproof bowl, then add peas to boiling water and cook 2 minutes.
 * 3) Transfer peas with slotted spoon to bowl with asparagus, then add linguine to boiling water and cook until al dente.
 * 4) While linguine cooks, pulse basil, mint, oil, salt, pepper, and ½ cup feta in a food processor until chopped, then add to vegetables.
 * 5) Reserve ½ cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander.
 * 6) Stir reserved cooking water into vegetables, then add pasta, parsley, scallions, and remaining ½ cup feta and toss.