 David Rubel'sWhat's For Dinner?5/25/05
Tuna salad is both easy to prepare and reasonably healthful, but what my wife, Julia, and I like most about it is that it doesn't require us to turn on the stove or oven--a great virtue on hot summer nights. The recipe below lists the ingredients for an Indian-style variation that our kids like, but you should creep up on the suggested amounts, sampling as you go, so that the result suits your own family's tastes.
2. Place the raisins in a small glass dish, sprinkle them with water, cover the dish, and microwave it for 30 seconds. (This plumps the raisins.) Allow them to cool, then add them to the tuna. 3. Chop the walnuts, then add them to the tuna. 4. Chop the sweet onion finely, then add it to the tuna. 5. Add the curry powder, and mix well. Serve over mixed greens.
Tips * Substitute freely. For instance, just about any sort of nuts or onion will do; use whatever you have on hand. I like the mild taste of the Vidalia onion, but I've also used red onion and scallions, and these work just fine. * If it's not too hot out, try toasting the walnuts in a skillet over a low flame before chopping them. * Crusty bread and goat cheese are an excellent accompaniment.
Feedback Frequent contributor Ezra Eichelberger of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park likes to add sliced hard-boiled eggs to his tuna salad, about one egg per can of tuna. He also adds some celery. “I don't like real crunchy celery,” Ezra writes, “so I blanch some celery in the water I'm boiling the eggs. Maybe you could add the raisins or even the onions to this as well. Other suggestions include diced sweet pickles and sliced Moroccan or Italian cured olives. To compensate for the cholesterol in the eggs, Ezra uses soy mayonnaise.Wendy Sacks and Joe Holdner of Krumville report that they make a similar salad with leftover roast chicken, mayonnaise, curry powder, chopped green apples, and raisins or other fruit. When they make tuna, however, they layer caponata (homemade or canned) with tuna, black olives, and chopped red onion. Then they drizzle the result with good olive oil. “Always a hit,” they promise. If you have tried one of these recipes and have an improvement or tip or variation to suggest, please e-mail David at dinner@wamc.org. Also feel free to send along your own family cuisine recipes. You can even request dishes that you'd like David to present in the future. David Rubel is president of Agincourt Press, a book production company in Chatham, New York. He spends his days writing American history, then heads home after work to cook for his wife and two young children. His most recent book is The Story of America (DK, 2002). |
