What's On My Plate » Salads

Nancy’s Coleslaw

Tonya — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 18:34:38 +0000

First things first, I have no clue who Nancy is. This recipe comes from Paula Deen’s The Lady & Sons Cookbook. I imagine that Nancy is perhaps someone who used to work at the restaurant, or maybe one of Paula’s girlfriends. Who knows. It doesn’t make a difference.

My earliest memories of coleslaw is of that minty green stuff that you get at KFC. When I was younger I used to regularly consume the KFC and it obviously comes with fries but then you also get to choose a side! The sides in Canada aren’t as exciting as in the U.S. We usually only get to choose between potato, macaroni, coleslaw and maybe a vegetable salad. For the longest time coleslaw was my default. I don’t even think I liked it at all but I kept on choosing it (years later the potato salad became my default).

I’m not sure when I discovered what real coleslaw was but thank goodness I did! Coleslaw is a critical part of my barbecued foods consumption. I can’t have a pulled pork sandwich without some coleslaw goodness on top. Well, I guess I could but it’s just not the same.

I’m in the camp that likes a bit of a crunchy coleslaw that’s not too heavy on the dressing. I can’t do the soupy coleslaws. I love a coleslaw that adds some texture to whatever you’re eating it alongside of.

My go-to recipe is the above mentioned slaw courtesy of Paula Deen. Trust me when I say not only is it super easy, it has the right balance of flavours. I love the tip of combining the sugar and onions to tone down the onion flavours – brilliant! I also use the pre-packaged, shredded coleslaw mix from the supermarket to make things even easier.

While the days of summer are quickly away, definitely take this to your next barbecue or picnic.

Nancy’s Coleslaw

1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 medium green cabbage, cored and shredded

Combine the onion and sugar in a bowl and let stand for 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, salt, and celery seed and add to the onion mixture.

Either pour the mixture in a jar with a lid and shake to mix or whisk vigourously in the bowl.

Put the cabbage in a bowl and add the onion mixture a bit at a time until well-dressed but not overdressed.

(Recipe from The Lady & Sons Cookbook)

Garlic Scape and Basil Pesto

Tonya — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 04:11:29 +0000

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a farmers’ market as much as the next girl (or guy). But does anyone else find this whole eating locally and seasonally thing a bit stressful?

So let’s say you skip the market for a week or two or even three. Then you show up at the market and discover this new (to you) fruit, vegetable, whatever. You buy some at the farmer’s urging and take it home and fall in love. The following week that you go back to the market and said produce is nowhere in sight. And it won’t be … for at least a year. The season has ended and now you’re SOL.

This always happens to me! Or I won’t realize that the season has started for something that I enjoy and then it’s too late. This year already I have been burned by fiddleheads coming and going and I was later to rhubarb season than I had hoped to be. I was totally on top of this year’s somewhat disappointing strawberry season though. I’m now committed to going to the market weekly to ensure that I don’t miss a week of corn, peaches, plums, tomatoes and other goodies. This is what it’s come to! I need my seasonal produce.

My discovery this week was garlic scapes. I always read about garlic scapes but had never thought to buy them. One stall at the market was selling them for 10 for $1 and that was enticing enough for me to give it a try. Garlic scapes are the stalks of hardneck garlic. Farmers cut them off as the garlic grows to keep the plant’s energy focused on making more awesome garlic.

I knew right away that I would make a pesto. I had planned on making basil pesto the week before but got sidetracked and never got around to it. I found a ton of recipes for garlic scape-only pesto but I wanted to use up some of the basil from my balcony garden so I did some more digging. Apparently it’s quite normal to do the garlic scape/pesto variety.

The combination is definitely a winner. The garlic scapes add a nice garlic flavour with a hint of grassiness. The basil ties in the traditional pesto flavours without being too herby. I used almonds instead of pine nuts and was totally happy with the way that worked out. My only issue was getting the consistency down right. The pesto was on the thick side no matter how much oil I added. At a certain point I stopped adding oil because it seemed excessive. This is definitely a hit! I’ve been eating it with pasta and chicken for a great summer salad. I also plan on using the pesto as a spread in a breakfast sandwich with eggs, cheese and bacon.

For the recipe visit Serious Eats.

Chickpea Salad

Tonya — Mon, 09 May 2011 11:24:19 +0000

While I love meat, I try not to eat it all the time. My weekly diet usually involves some meat, some seafood, maybe some poultry and usually a meatless dish, like pasta. My lunches recently usually consist of leftover dinner so I’ve been having much more meat at lunch than I’d normally like. In the past, I used to make meals exclusively for lunch and they were often vegetable or grain-based. Somewhere along the way I got lazy and stopped making meals exclusively for lunch.

I’ve made it a bit of a goal recently to get back on that bandwagon. The other day I was browsing Bon Appétit recipes on Epicurious when I came across this recipe for a Chickpea Salad with lemon, Parmesan and herbs. It sounded like a winner and easy enough to make for lunch.

While the recipe as-is seemed pretty good I decided to switch things up a bit. Right away I thought that roasted red peppers would be a great addition. Then looking in my fridge I realized that I didn’t have any basil or parsley. And I wasn’t going out to get some. But then I looked in my freezer and found some basil.

The resulting salad was really simple and delicious. It works well as a side dish or on it’s own as a salad. This would also be really nice served on top of a bed of couscous or as an addition to a lettuce-based salad.

Hopefully over the next few weeks I’ll do a few more grain or legume-based lunch salads. My body is definitely telling me to feed it some healthy goodness. I will listen.

Chickpea Salad

1 15-to 15 1/2-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed, drained
1 roasted red pepper, chopped (approx. 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small garlic clove, pressed
1/3 cup (packed) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Coarse kosher salt
preparation

Combine rinsed and drained chickpeas, chopped roasted red pepper, chopped fresh basil, fresh lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, and garlic clove in medium bowl. Add grated Parmesan cheese and toss to mix thoroughly. Season salad to taste with coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

(Adapted from Bon Appétit)

An Oaxacan Feast with Chef Pilar Cabrera Arroyo in Stratford

Tonya — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 05:42:23 +0000

It’s no secret that I love Mexican food. In fact, I pretty much always have an underlying craving for all things Mexican. Living in Toronto where there aren’t many (good, authentic) opportunities for Mexican food I find myself either making my own feasts using Rick Bayless’ recipes or I just plan on having a Mexican feast on my next trip to the U.S.

With that said, I was thrilled to be invited to a dinner prepared by Pilar Cabrera Arroyo and the students of the Stratford Chef School. Chef Pilar is the chef at La Olla restaurant in Oaxaca, Mexico. Pilar grew up in Oaxaca, which is considered one of the food capitals of Mexico and even taught my beloved Rick Bayless about Oaxacan cooking. Pilar was in Stratford as part of the “Celebrity Chef in Residence” program that allows students at the Stratford Chef School to learn from the masters.

After a snowy post-work drive to Stratford with Mardi and Joanne we arrived at the quaint and intimate setting of the Old Prune restaurant and were ready for our meal…

Quesadillas de champiñones y quesillo con salsa verde
Cheese and mushrooms quesadillas with Green salsa

First up were the cheese and mushroom quesadillas. These were nothing like what we’d typically call quesadillas. No oodles and oodles of melted cheese here. In fact, the cheese was barely perceptible. The flavours were very subtle and were nicely accented by the green and red salsas that accompanied them. I could have eaten a dozen of these.

Sopa caliente de aguacate
Hot avocado soup

I was fully prepared for the hot avocado soup to be bizarre. Avocados just aren’t something that I’m used to consuming hot. This was probably the most unexpected treat of the evening! If I hadn’t read that this was an avocado soup I would have had a hard time guessing what it was. There was an almost olive taste to it. The flavours were well-balanced with a great mix of spice and a divinely smooth texture. For contrast the soup feature pomegranate, tortilla chips and a hint of cheese. The new-to-me ingredient here was avocado leave dust that was used as a garnish. I can’t quite describe the flavour but I can tell you that it would probably be a great topping for popcorn (among other things). I totally wanted a vat of this soup when I hit the bottom of the boat.

Salpicón de res
Shredded flank steak salad

I’m not a huge salad fan but throw a pile of meat on top of it and I’m in. I LOVE me some flank steak. It has a lot of flavour and is used in a lot of my favourite Latin American dishes. The meat was served cold on top of the salad but it didn’t dull the flavours. The meat was well-marinated in what I imagine would be a versatile marinade. It wasn’t too spicy but integrated a healthy dose of probably cumin and coriander among other things. The salad was served with a few tortilla chips and grape tomatoes to add an interesting contrast in textures.

Mole amarillo de pollo
Yellow mole with chicken

And then it was onto our main. I’ve always been intrigued by moles. The long list of ingredients is always a deterrent to making my own mole so when i’m at a restaurant that does a good mole I’m often inclined to giving it a try. This time around I had a yellow mole which I had never tried before. The flavours were very complex and featured a lot of depth and interestingly enough had a surprising level of heat to it. The texture of the chicken was lovely – for some reason the word “velvet” comes to mind. The chicken was served with green beans, chayote and a cilantro-masa dumpling. Like the quesadillas, I could have used a dozen or so of the dumplings. I also wish that we were given a stack of tortillas to dip into the sauce.

Mousse de mango
Mango mousse

Then it was onto dessert. It looks like a lemon bar but it’s really a mango mousse! Having grown up on mangoes, I have a soft spot in my heart for any and everything mango. The mousse was really smooth and not at all eggy and with a full blast of mango. It actually wasn’t very “mousse-y” and instead reminded me of a flan when it came down to texture. The mousse was served with a mint sorbet and dried hibiscus flowers. The mint sorbet was something totally new to me. I loved the brightness of the sorbet and how refreshing it was. The hibiscous flowers were a nice touch and added contrasting textures to the dessert.

After dessert we were presented with a plate of “Mexican petits-fours” (no pictures), which included a citrus tuille, shortbread and mini chocolates. A lovely way to end a fabulous meal.

As you can probably tell, dinner was amazing. It was such a treat to be able to sample such authentic Mexican food and in Stratford nonetheless! I always love learning about the diversity present in Mexican cooking since our opportunities to try truly authentic Mexican food is limited here in Toronto. A big thank you to The Stratford Chef School for accommodating us, Sizzling Communications for the invite, and to Chef Pilar Cabrera Arroyo for a fantastic meal.

Click here to see what other chefs will be cooking alongside the students at the Stratford Chef School over the next few weeks.

Martha’s All-American Potato Salad

Tonya — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:33:30 +0000

When I made pulled pork the other day, I thought it would be fun to make a potato salad to go along with it. Problem is, I rarely make or even eat potato salad. It’s not something that I usually get at restaurants except for when I do my yearly KFC trek and it’s just not something I make.

Without a potato salad recipe in my arsenal I had to do some digging. I went through a few sources like Edna Lewis, Paula Deen and others but was intrigued by this Martha Stewart recipe. I loved that it included eggs. I was intrigued by the inclusion of cornichons. It overall just sounded pretty delightful.

If you don’t like chopping this isn’t the recipe for you. There is so much chopping involved. Potatoes, eggs, cornichons, onions, scallions, red peppers, parsley and celery! Definitely get out the sharpening steel for your knife prior to starting this one. One neat thing about this recipe is that Martha instructs to boil the potatoes whole to preserve the potato flavour. You then peel the boiled potato and then chop it. Kind of neat.

All of the chopping was well worth it. This potato salad was AMAZING. There was a lot of contrast in texture from the soft eggs and tender potatoes to the crisp celery and cornichons. The flavours were really layered from the vegetables and the spices. I liked that this was a creamy potato salad but not overly creamy. It was truly divine. I think this salad could benefit from the inclusion of bacon. Do note that this recipe makes A LOT of salad. I halved the recipe and still ate potato salad for four days.

Martha’s All-American Potato Salad

* 4 pounds russet potatoes (about * Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
* 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
* 1 teaspoon dry mustard
* 2 tablespoons hot water, plus more if needed
* 3 stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice (3/4 cup)
* 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice (1/2 cup)
* 1 medium onion, finely diced (1/2 cup)
* 10 cornichons, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1/4 cup)
* 3 scallions, thinly sliced (1/2 cup)
* 2 tablespoons freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
* 1 teaspoon paprika

1. Place potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover by several inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, add 1 tablespoon salt, and reduce to a gentle boil. Cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, about 25 minutes. Drain into a colander. Using paper towels or gloves to protect your hands, peel potatoes, and cut into 1-inch dice while still hot. Drizzle with vinegar; set aside.

2. Place eggs in a small pan with enough water to cover by 1 inch, and place over medium-high heat. When water comes to a boil, turn off heat, cover, and let stand for 13 minutes. Drain, and place in a bowl with cold water to cover. When cold, peel eggs. Chop 2 into 1/4-inch dice. Slice the third egg into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, and set aside for garnish.

3. Combine chopped eggs, mayonnaise, celery seed, mustard, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl; whisk to combine. Thin mixture with hot water, if desired. Stir in reserved potatoes, celery, red pepper, onion, cornichons, scallions, and chopped parsley. Chill for 30 minutes before serving. Garnish with paprika and reserved hard-boiled egg rounds.

(Via Martha Stewart)

Chopped Salad Goodness

Tonya — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:11:54 +0000

A few years ago when I was still in university, a few girlfriends and I went to Boca Raton for spring break. If you’re familiar with Boca then you know that it is filled with retirement communities, which was kind of perfect for lazy, laid-back spring break. We stayed with my friend’s grandparents at Boca West and feasted on chopped salads from the clubhouse as often as possible.

Is it just me or do salads always taste better when other people make them for you? Not sure why but it’s almost a rule.

Anyway, I was flipping through the June issue of Cooks Illustrated when I came across a recipe and accompanying tips for making chopped salads. Some of the key ones were to incorporate the lettuce last, remove excess liquids from watery ingredients such as cucumbers and tomatoes, and to allow ingredients to marinate in the dressing for a bit before adding the lettuce.

I used the recipe below as a guide and modified to fit my tastes. I omitted cucumbers because I don’t love them. Used regular tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes, used balsamic instead of red wine vinegar, I forgot to add the red onions and parsley but added tuna, artichoke hearts and young garlic to the mix. I also omitted the feta cheese.

The key to a good chopped salad is to chop everything small enough so that every forkful is the perfect bite with a bit of everything on there. No digging around necessary.

Enjoy!

Mediterranean Chopped Salad

1 medium cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered (about 1 1/2 cups)
table salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 medium garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon) or garlic clove, pressed through garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
1 (14 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped pitted kalamata olive
1/2 small minced red onion (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
1 romaine lettuce, heart cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)
ground black pepper

Combine cucumber, tomatoes, and 1 teaspoon salt in colander set over bowl and let stand 15 minutes.
Whisk oil, vinegar, and garlic together in large bowl. Add drained cucumber and tomatoes, chickpeas, olives, onion, and parsley; toss and let stand at room temperature to blend flavors, 5 minutes.
Add romaine and feta; toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Barefoot Bloggers: Curried Couscous

Tonya — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:14:14 +0000

Another Thursday, another Barefoot Bloggers post. This one comes courtesy of Ellyn at Recipe Collector and Taster.

I have to say that this recipe was beyond easy. Like make it in 15 minutes easy. As in barely requires any cooking easy. My food plans totally went awry last night. I had planned on making dinner before my meeting but then ended up working late (womp womp) so I had to rush downtown. By the time I got home it was after 10:30PM but I really wanted to make my couscous!

The ingredient list looks a bit long but there wasn’t that much prep involved. I started off by chopping everything then I made the couscous and while that was happening I made the sauce. Seriously one of the easiest Ina recipes yet.

The flavours and textures in this recipe are really fantastic. There is a nice bit of crunch as well as a good balance of sweet and spicy. Leftovers will be consumed tonight with some broiled salmon. This is a great simple yet impactful side dish to spice up a weeknight meal.

Ina delivers again!

Curried Couscous
1 1/2 cups couscous
1 Tbl unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated (or small diced) carrots
1/2 cup minced fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup dried currants
1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup small diced red onion

Place the couscous in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in the boiling water and pour over the couscous. Cover tightly and allow the couscous to soak for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork. Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Pour over the fluffed couscous and mix well with a fork. Add the carrots, parsley, currants, almonds, scallions, and red onions; mix well and taste for seasonings. Serve at room temperature. Serves 6.
(From The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook)

Tuna Salad (with Salmon)

Tonya — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:38:24 +0000

It’s that time of the month again… time for another Barefoot Bloggers recipe! This one comes courtesy of Kate at Warm Olives and Cool Cocktails (love that blog name!).

When I first saw the recipe I was totally pumped. I love fresh tuna (although I rarely buy it) and avocado is my middle name. I also LOVED the Japanese influences in the recipe. All was fine and dandy until I started looking for tuna. Now, admittedly I was a bit lazy with this one. I could have easily gone to Kensington Market to visit one of the many fish mongers but I didn’t feel like heading that way. I figured between the 3 grocery stores in my neighbourhood and Costco SOMEONE would have tuna. I was totally wrong. Not even FROZEN tuna did I find. I finally found tuna at Loblaws but they only had wild tuna and it was $19.99/lb. PASS! While I was at Costco I bought a side of salmon and decided to use that instead of going the canned tuna route.

Aside from the salmon I made a few other modifications. Luckily this recipe is pretty “cleanse friendly” so I didn’t have to do much. The recipe calls for soy sauce but not much (2 tsp for the full recipe) so I used that. I omitted the wasabi powder because I didn’t have any on hand.

This is such a great springtime recipe. It’s light, flavourful and barely requires effort. The flavours of the lime and hot sauce work so well together and the avocado I bought was perfectly ripe. The one thing I struggled with was what to serve along side. I ended up just going with brown rice which was a good choice. I would have easily been happy with quinoa and steamed veggies.

Keeping this recipe on hand for sure! Next time I will try tuna. Another Barefoot Contessa / Ina Garten hit.

Tuna Salad

Ingredients

2 pounds very fresh tuna steak, cut 1-inch thick
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black, plus extra for sprinkling
2 limes, zest grated
1 teaspoon wasabi powder
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (3 limes)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
10 dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
1 to 2 ripe Hass avocados, medium diced
1/4 cup minced scallions, white and green parts (2 scallions)
1/4 cup red onion, small diced

Directions

Brush the tuna steaks with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the tuna steaks in a very hot saute pan and cook for only 1 minute on each side. Set aside on a platter.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the olive oil, salt, pepper, lime zest, wasabi, lime juice, soy sauce and hot sauce. Add the avocados to the vinaigrette.

Cut the tuna in chunks and place it in a large bowl. Add the scallions and red onion and mix well. Pour the vinaigrette mixture over the tuna and carefully mix.

(Recipe via Food Network)

Barefoot Bloggers: Chinese Chicken Salad

Tonya — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:59:56 +0000

Somehow I’m totally a week late posting this! Not sure how I got the dates so mixed up in my head at all. Clearly I did not ace this one. I have to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to making this recipe in the first place. McKenzie of Kenzie’s Kitchen chose this recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad and lost me at the word chicken. But in the spirit of Barefoot Bloggers I forged ahead and I’m glad I did!

This is a super simple and delicious recipe. I used “naturally raised” chicken from Metro which I like a lot better than regular chicken and it’s only slightly more expensive. Most of the ingredients I had on hand and really only had to buy the veggies required. I followed the recipe almost to a T and was pleasantly surprised. I omitted the salt in the dressing and was happy with that choice. I’m a big fan of a garlicky, peanutty, gingery dressing and this salad delivered. I would use the dressing as a dipping sauce or marinade for other dishes.

I served my chicken salad on top of Hot and Sour Coleslaw that I found via Epicurious. I had a quarter head of cabbage from my last veggie box that I had to use up and I always had carrots on hand so this seemed like a natural choice. I also happened to have some bean sprouts that were on the verge of being not so fresh that I threw in there too. This was a GREAT accompaniment if I do say so myself.

Would I make this again? Sure, if I were in the mood for chicken. I will be adding this to my list of “things to bring to summer barbecues (if i ever were to get invited to summer barbecues)” (a girl has to plan!). I am however super excited for the lunchtime leftovers!

Chinese Chicken Salad

Ingredients

4 split chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on)
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally
1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded
2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted

For the dressing:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub with the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces.

Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers in strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

(recipe via foodtv.com)

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

Tonya — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:10:51 +0000

Every once in a while I get a random craving. The other day it was for tuna salad. I RARELY eat tuna salad but my body had “eat tuna salad” on repeat so I had to give in… and quickly.

I didn’t want just the standard tuna salad, I wanted something “classy” so I checked out my beloved Whole Foods Market Cookbook knowing that I would find something. And of course I did. The recipe for Mediterranean Tuna Salad was everything that I wanted.

The salad combines tuna, artichokes, black olives, red onions and a few other choice ingredients. The flavours blend perfectly! I really loved scooping up the perfect bite with a little bit of everything. The artichoke/tuna combo is delicious!

I made a few minor tweaks to this recipe. I used regular red peppers and omitted the basil. Next time around I think I’ll add more artichokes and olives. I like the idea of this being less of a tuna salad and more of a sald with tuna. As you can see above I served this over baby spinach which was a great decision. What you DON’T see is that I scooped some of the salad onto some yummy bread, added a slice of swiss cheese and put it under the broiler. HELLO classy tuna melt!

This is also one of those salads that is great days later. The flavours really get a chance to meld. LOVE IT.

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

Ingredients

4 (6-ounce) cans albacore tuna, drained well
1 (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 cup chopped red bell or piquillo peppers
3/4 cup sliced Greek olives
1/2 small red onion, minced
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped basil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tablespoon fresh
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Method

In a large bowl, combine the tuna, artichoke hearts, red pepper, olives, onion, parsley, basil, garlic, oregano, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and pepper. Mix all the ingredients together well. Serve on bread, atop a green salad or in lettuce cups.

(From the Whole Foods Market Cookbook)