Summertime means salad time, and Austell resident Perry Turner shares his recipe for corkscrew pasta salad.

He said, “It is a great summer dish.” Turner tosses pasta in a homemade dressing along with vegetables.

“(The pasta salad) is better served the next day to let the vegetables marinate in the dressing,” he said. “This pasta salad is a nice cool dish.”

Turner is no novice when it comes to cooking. “I learned to cook at home,” he said. “I made this recipe up.”

Born and raised in Powder Springs, Turner was the oldest child in his family and first started cooking as a child to help his parents who worked. He said, “I got interested in cooking then. I’ve been at it ever since.”

Turner worked in restaurants at a young age and eventually worked at Marietta Country Club in Kennesaw as a sous chef for 16 years where he was schooled in the fine art of cooking. He has worked for many families in Marietta as well as with Simon Shirley, the former footman to the British Royal Family and Princess Diana.

“This pasta salad is healthy, and it’s pretty easy,” he said. “It’s just a great summer dish.”