Perfect Tuna Salad without the Tuna

Do you like canned tuna? I used to love it. My mother would make the most wonderful tuna salad that I could eat by the bucket-fulls when I was younger, but the older I've become, the more and more I dislike canned tuna. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE fresh tuna: sushi, sashimi, seared, any way you can think of ... except for canned. Because I have such good memories of the tuna salad my mother made I always end up trying to recreate it and I always use canned tuna. However, I can't ever get it right and my confidence in my tuna salad-making abilities withers away. I've all but given up.

Tonight, I had a breakthrough! I made a wonderful salad perfect for toast, wraps, on crispy greens, on crackers, or any other way you can think of. The breakthrough you ask? Get rid of the tuna and replace it with chickpeas! Yes, you read that correctly... chickpeas. I love chickpeas and with the variety of ways they can be prepared I could probably eat them everyday and never get tired of them. This chickpea salad was so great! Light and a little bit unexpected, but creamy, satisfying, and perfect. This will from now on be my go-to salad for sandwiches. Sorry, canned tuna, I'm leaving you and not looking back.

Chickpea Salad
Makes 2 sandwiches, or 2 servings

1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 very small onion, finely diced
1 small rib celery, diced
1/4 cup mayo
1 tablespoon yogurt
1 tablespoon grain mustard
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
1 fat pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Put the chickpeas in to a bowl and mash them. You can mash them as little or as much as you want (or, you could even put them in a food processor if you want them completely smooth). I mashed them about 'half way', keeping about 1/2 of the chickpeas whole.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix everything well to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

I toasted a bit of wheat bread and piled up the salad to make a sandwich. It was fabulous!

I am so happy with this I could eat it tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after... no joke. I can't wait to have it again.

And don't be too upset over the breakup, canned tuna. My husband loves you and will definitely keep you around for a long-lasting relationship :)

Happy Eating!

Read more...

Beautiful Sunday Lunch

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend and you're all prepared to start another week tomorrow. We had such a nice weekend. It's been busy, but relaxing and just lovely. I've kept myself busy today in the kitchen with some cooking and baking. I shared a couple of ways to roast a bell pepper on Friday, and as promised I'm sharing the gorgeous salad that I made with those peppers. I also want to share with you an extremely easy tomato tart I made. Together, these two came together and it was a beautiful Sunday lunch... not to mention delicious.

Toasted Corn Salad with Lime, Honey, Cilantro Dressing
Serves 2 generously

2 Teaspoons olive oil
2 small to medium ears of corn
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 roasted bell pepper, sliced into thin pieces (follow the link to get the technique!)
1 avocado, flesh cut into bite sized pieces
1 small red onion, diced
1 handful cilantro, minced
zest of 1 lime
juice of two limes
2 heaping teaspoons of honey
salt and pepper to taste

Remove all of the kernels of corn on the cobs, and prepare all of the other vegetables. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is heated, add the corn. Cook the corn until it softens, about 8-10 minutes.

While the corn is cooking, get the dressing ready by adding the red onion, zest, lime juice, and honey to a bowl. Mix well and set aside.

Once the corn stars to soften, add about 3/4 of the tomatoes. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to soften.

After the corn and tomatoes have cooked, take them off the heat and allow them to cool for a few minutes (I waited about 5). Meanwhile, add the rest of the ingredients to the dressing.

Add the corn and tomatoes and mix the salad thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Put the bowl into the refrigerator and store until you're ready to serve it.

Now, I'll share the quick and easy tarte that I served along-side the salad. I got the recipe originally from Stacey Snacks... she does some amazing tartes, tartaines, and quiches. I've made a few minor changes.

Quick and Easy Tomato Tarte
Adapted from Stacey Snacks
Serves 4 as a side dish

6 large tomatoes
1/4 cup grated white cheddar
1/4 cup grated gruyere
2 heaping teaspoons grain mustard
1 package puff pastry
1 small handful fresh basil, torn into small pieces
1 Tablespoon good olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

You will need a cast iron skillet. Pre-heat your oven to 325F.

Wash the tomatoes and slice them into 1/2" slices.

Arrange the slices at the bottom of the cast iron skillet. Season the tomatoes liberally with salt. Place the skillet in the oven and cook the tomatoes for 50-60 minutes, until the tomatoes are completely soft and have released all of their juices.

Remove the tomatoes from the oven and place a plate on top of the tomatoes. Carefully, drain all of the excess liquid from the pan. After draining, replace the tomatoes if they slid around. Make sure the bottom of the pan is completely covered.

Grate the cheese and sprinkle it on top of the tomatoes. Set aside.

Unroll the puff pastry and brush it with the mustard.The mustard doesn't have to extend to the edges of the pastry because you will end up having to cut off the excess.

Carefully place the pastry over the tomatoes, mustard-side down. Cut of the excess pastry and fold the edges around the tomatoes. Cut a hole in the center of the pastry to let out excess steam. Put the pan back into the oven and increase the heat to 350F. Cook the tarte for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.

Once the pan is out of the oven, run a knife around the edges to release any parts of the pastry that stuck to the side of the pan. Place a plate over the pan and carefully flip the pan over onto the plate.

Season with plenty of salt and pepper and add the basil. Then, drizzle the tarte with olive oil. 

After the tarte was finished, I took the salad and the tarte to the table and we just served ourselves. It was absolutely beautiful. Granted, I should have used a prettier bowl :)

Delicious! This is the type of lunch you can serve to guests. It is just so beautiful and so easy. My husband even said it felt like the kind of lunch we should have been drinking white wine with... unfortunately, we were all out.

Have a lovely Sunday and I hope you try these out... so easy and so gorgeous. Beautifully delicious!

Happy Eating

Read more...