If your recipe calls for spring onions, you may not be able to find any at the supermarket.

The produce person may hand you scallions, and tell you they will work just as well as spring onions.

The produce person is correct. In fact, the “scallions” he has handed you are probably really spring onions.

Confusing? Indeed. The name “scallion” is given to a number of onion varieties picked when immature, before the bulb begins its journey to becoming an onion.

But “scallion” is also the name of a distinct variety of the onion family that looks like an immature spring onion. Unlike its relatives, however, it never develops a large, round bulb as onions do.

Recognizing the differences between a true scallion and the immature onion varieties is more of interest than necessity. They are culinarily interchangeable and pretty much identical, except the authentic scallion has a less assertive flavor (an inferior real scallion, however, could be stronger in taste than its onion cousin).

Under close examination, an authentic scallion has very straight sides, including the white part, and its hollow green stems are flat. The immature onion’s white bottom is rounded (remember, it’s picked before that bulb can develop into an onion) and its green stems have an open, oval shape.

What should concern you is selecting “scallions” with

Scallions can be cooked whole, as well as minced or sliced, and can be used in a variety of dishes, either cooked or uncooked. They also make attractive and flavorful garnishes. Both the white and green parts can be used in recipes, although some recipes recommend throwing one or the other away.

For cooking in minced form, the white portion can be added first and the green sections near the end of the cooking time. Three to five minutes is generally fine for the white part and a minute or two works well for the minced green stems. In most sauté recipes, you can add the green part at the end of the cooking cycle. If the heat is too high or the cooking time too long, the flavor will be bitter.

Here is a quick and easy recipe that should take you 20 minutes or less to prepare — and you needn’t worry about cooking the scallions. The chicken breasts are steamed, so if you like a more attractive color, you can simply mark them on a hot grill briefly, or run them under the broiler.

4 boneless chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon minced ginger or
(1 teaspoon ground ginger, or to taste)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup trimmed scallions,
white and green parts, chopped into about 1/4-inch pieces. Salt to taste, optional (keep in mind you are also using soy sauce)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Steam chicken over pot of simmering water until cooked through — about 6 to 10 minutes, depending on thickness. They are done when white and firm;  make a small cut into meat to be certain.

Blend ginger, canola oil, scallions. When chicken is done, place in a serving platter or divide onto two or four plates. Drizzle chicken with soy sauce and sesame oil, and serve (you can pass scallion-ginger sauce at table or serve it in individual bowls).

Makes two to four servings.

Diverse dining spots occupy the busy Fox Chase intersection of Barnes and Loney Sts., right off Oxford Avenue: Joseph’s Pizza, the elegant Moonstruck, the belly-filling Fox Chase Deli, and, we have recently discovered, an eclectic boutique café called 3 Sisters Corner.

Not your typical restaurant, it offers a limited but selective menu for those with palates craving more than pizza and hamburger.

At lunch recently, 3 Sisters Corner featured croissant sandwiches, sweetened with red grapes, and a variety of soups. We weren’t interested in the soup of the day, pumpkin, so we sampled the chicken salad and tuna specialties — a little dry for our tastes, but with a bottle of Rosenberger’s unsweetened iced tea, quite filling.

The 3 Sisters were not on hand that afternoon, but a very pleasant waitress recommended we try one of the desserts, displayed in an appetizing showcase. We resisted temptation, passing up Aunt June’s Decadent Chocolate Cake and Donna’s homemade scones, and settled on Madeleine cookies — a fitting finish to lunch.

3 Sisters proudly notes on the menu that all its baked goods come from LeBus Bakery. The menu also features paninis, flavored Ellis coffees, and espresso and cappuccino drinks. A poster board listed a variety of coffee blends, with tantalizing names like Black Forest Latte, Turtle Dove Latte, Almond Joy and Love-a-Latte.

3 Sisters Corner does a busy take-out business, with all sandwiches and salads made on the spot as they’re ordered.

We thank L. A. Blasick, a Milestones  reader, for recommending we visit 3 Sisters Corner. If you’re looking for a somewhat different and tasty repast, the menu urges you “Come In, Relax and Enjoy.” We second the motion.

Is there a terrific place near you to lunch with friends or linger over an early-bird dinner? A neighborhood bakery, bistro, deli, market, sweets shop or take-out joint?