Tuna Salad?? Yup, Tuna Salad Tonight. Aww, Gee.

You've gotta wonder why they always say that.  I like Tuna Salad, even when I get it between two slices of limp white bread.  It's an Old Standby.  It was only one day a few years ago at my sister's house that I learned there were other things to do with canned tuna besides add a chopped onion and a half ton of mayonnaise to it.  Stephanie likes to tune it up with some apple and raisins.  I adopted that for my own plate and kitchen.  (Hey, is that the title of another blog?  Peter's Plate, or simply Plate and Kitchen?)  Then I thought of adding a squeeze or two of lemon juice from time to time, a sprinkling of nuts of one kind or another, and I was off to the races.

Some of the stuff was not fit for the cat...if I had one, but every bit of it was healthy.  But, so is boiled cod and beans healthy.  And, no self respecting "moggie" would lift a paw towards that.  Not even Mikey could be persuaded to eat it.

The other night, though, I prepared something that I thought good enough to serve Mariellen.  It was a tuna and bean salad with some peppers, a bit of lemon and chopped fresh basil.  We just finished our second evening with it, and, by my word, it was as good as if not better than the first night's adventure.  So simple is it and so good I think, that I have decided to be brutally honest and tell you that I got it out of a book, an ad in a book at that.  Here is the recipe:

One 5 ounce can or 3.5 ounce package of tuna (I used the envelope and chunk light, not white tuna)
One 15 ounce can of cannelini beans drained
One Tbsp of lemon juice
2Tbsp of olive oil
One half chopped red onion
One half chopped red pepper
Salt and pepper
Two Tbsp chopped fresh basil
Zest of one half lemon
One clove of garlic mashed

Mash and mix the garlic with lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper.  Whisk oil into it and set aside while you chop and mix the peppers and onion with the beans.  Mix the tuna with the beans and toss the add the dressing and chopped herb.  Toss again to mix the dressing, turn into a serving dish and garnish with fresh picked basil leaves.

I doubled the recipe and it easily will serve six as a main course.  Serve it on a bed of lettuce with some hearty bread and a good dry white for a light summer supper.

By the way, it's quite accommodating.  I had no red pepper, but did have some yellow and orange ones in the fridge.  They went quite well, and added some pleasant color appeal to the whole dish.

It's easy, quick and good.