The New Tuna Salad Sandwich

There's your typical tuna sandwich, and then there's this tuna sandwich. We're really going to blow your mind with this one. Well, I mean it's only a tuna sandwich, but just think: whole grain mustard! Curry paste! Hummus! Greek yogurt? Feta? Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. This here is a bit of a tuna sandwich revolution. Best get ready.

So, my mom never made tuna sandwiches for me when I was little. She didn't like canned foods. Or mayonnaise. I specifically remember having one or two tuna sandwiches as a kid, eaten tentatively like a foreign food while at a friend's house. I kinda liked them. Still, something about tuna is a just little funky. Tuna sandwiches sure taste good, but they'll never be cool. Tuna just smells a little too fishy to be hip.

That being said, there is still something very satisfying and delicious about a tuna sandwich. I'm not sure exactly what it is. Something brilliant happens when you get the alchemy of all the different flavors just exactly right. It is a complicated balancing act. If there's not enough of just one ingredient---not quite enough salt, or a little short on the mustard---the whole sandwich is thrown off. Usually it's close, but you can taste it---it doesn't quite taste like your Platonic ideal of a tuna sandwich (you know, like the ones you remember from your childhood.)

Like many recipes, tuna salad preparation requires constant tasting and adjusting. Wait for it.... You'll know when you've gotten it just right. Trust me.

I don't know how Mark came upon the pure, solid genius of adding feta to a tuna sandwich, but he did. Now I am reaping all the rewards. Bwah, ha ha hah. Ah ha hah ha! (Oh, and by rewards, I just mean really, really ridiculously good tasting sandwiches.) The curry is all mine, though, because I like a hint of curry in pretty much anything. Greek yogurt is just a fantastic creamy addition to anything that needs to be creamier (and low fat, too!). In fact, you could replace all of the mayo with Greek yogurt if you were so inclined. (I am, Mark's not.)

New Tuna Sandwiches

~Print Recipe~

• 4 slices of bread
• Hummus
• Lettuce 
• 2 oz. feta, crumbled*
• 2 cans of tuna in water
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion*
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery*
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise*
• 3 tablespoons whole grain mustard*
• 1 or 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt*
• 1/2 teaspoon curry paste (such as Patak's Vindaloo)*
• 1/4 teaspoon dill*
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix well tuna and all subsequent ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Lightly toast your bread and spread all four slices with hummus. Divide tuna salad evenly between two slices. Sprinkle each sandwich with feta, top with lettuce and remaining bread slices. Prepare to be blown away.

*More, or less to taste. As you can see, this is not an exact science. Do whatever tastes good to you!

Serves 2

Kate's Fave Potato Salad

I never liked potato salad much as a kid until I had my grandmas. All potato salad was kind of sweet or too mustardy or too mushy. Then at a family reunion of sorts when I was 11 or 12 I tried hers. It did not have sweet relish or mustard in it. And as for the mushy, I was able to get past that because of the first two omissions. About 15 years later I developed my own recipe for potato salad that I love. Today, while finishing off the last bit left over from a recent BBQ* I realized this is an easy one to post and share. Please forgive me as the only bits I had left for a picture were practically traces in my NS "bowl."


In order to remedy the mushy part I use red potatoes. They are a little more waxy than russets and hold their form a little better. Here is how I make it:

Ingredients
a few pounds of smallish red potatoes
3-6 stalks of celery
2-5 green onions
1 can of medium black olives
1 cup of Mayo (Vegenaise** or Best Foods)
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper***

Optional Ingredients
Hard boiled eggs
Fresh parsely
Capers

First, chop the potatoes into small cubes, about 3/4" x 3/4" -ish. Then boil them until they are just soft enough to stick with a fork. Not mushy! But rather, just cooked, firm but not crunchy. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside to cool. (Sometimes I spread them out on a pan and put in the frig.)

While the poatoes are cooking, chop the celery - slicing it length-wise frist and then into little pieces. I even chop up the leafy parts on top. Chop onions into little pieces as well and add to a large bowl. Finally, chop olives. I like to cut them into quarters the long way. It's pretty, but you can chop them however you want.

When the potatoes are cooled add all ingredients to a large bowl and toss with mayo. Add more or less mayo depending on your style. It's best if this can sit for an hour or so in the frig before you serve it, but it's really good anytime.

Enjoy!

*Ramon is coaching me on BBQ, which I recently learned is different from grilling. More to come on that in the next months.

**Vegenaise is a great way to make this dish vegan if you're interested or have friends who you want to impress. Grapeseed Vegenaise is my favorite.

***If you don't own a pepper mill, now is the time! Fresh pepper makes everything better (even sweets I've recently discovered). If you're using the pre-ground stuff you might was well leave it out. It's stale and bland. Fresh ground pepper is amazing and SO worth it.

Veggies You Love Chowder

Today I received my first shipment for my CSA box from Farm Fresh To You and I spent the afternoon researching recipes that would use a good part of the veggies.  If you are interested in signing up for this CSA program, I can refer you at a discount on the first trial.

After looking through all my Mollie Katzen books (Moosewood) I found one that seemed easy and versatile, Vegetable Chowder.  After making this, I realized the veggie portions are more of a guideline, I would use whatever you have on hand.

What's in it

Butter

2C chopped onion

6 cloves garlic, minced

salt, thyme & basil (whatever else you like as well, I used Caraway Seed)

1 medium potato, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

2C chopped broccoli

1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped

frozen or fresh corn

Diced tomatoes, canned and drained

fresh black pepper

1 1/2C water

1 Qt milk, heated.

How it's made

Melt butter in large pot or dutch oven.  Add onion, half of garlic and basil, thyme, salt.  Satue about 5 minutes until onions clarify.  Add potatoes, celery, carrots, broccoli and saute another 5 minutes or so. Add mushrooms, corn and tomatoes, plus lots of pepper.  Saute another 10 minutes.  Add water, cover and simmer about 15 minutes until everything is tender.  Stir in the milk and remaining garlic.  Remove from heat.  Served topped with fresh herbs.

Obviously you can add or subtract depending on your ingredients.  I added half a bag of frozed artichoke hearts I had on hand, because I love them!  Other good additions are cauliflower, zucchini, etc.  Sorry there are not precise measurements for some of the smaller portions, I don't believe in measuring those amounts.  It will depend on how much veggies you have.

This turned out to be an incredibly delicious soup, very creamy and flavorful.  I also picked up a par baked french bread from TJ's and baked it fresh out of the oven, and it was perfect with the soup.  Yum!