Ramp it up ... Cutting up pineapple

It's ramp season!

Ramps look like scallions and manage to out-garlic garlic in the smell department. They're a wild cousin of the onion, and appear in markets each spring. They make a wicked vinaigrette, they're great sauteed in bacon fat and they make a funky, intense condiment when pickled.

They don't have much of a shelf life once they're picked. To keep them at their best, store them in the fridge, with their roots in a glass of water, for up to a couple of days. And you might want to keep them far away from butter, eggs and other easily impressionable foods -- unless, of course, you don't mind ramp-y butter.

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When cutting up a pineapple, use the tip of a swivel peeler to carve out the eyes (those little circles of skin dotted throughout). You'll drive yourself crazy (and lose lots of pineapple) if you try to carve every last one out with a knife.

(For more information, visit www.foodnetwork.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)