Mediterranean tuna salad

I missed you  last week.

We took a spontaneous trip to the beach for spring break, departed mere hours before this occurred, and headed up the  Chesapeake Bay to my husband’s parents house for Easter.

This was a departure from the norm for us…usually the day is an egg hunt at home (apparently you never grow too old for that), followed by church and dinner with traditional fare.

My daughter, who has guest blogged for me in the past, was also away.  With no extra posts queued up for you, I decided to let the week pass in silence.  I hope you all had a week blessed with family and good food.

This recipe makes a big enough batch of protein packed tuna salad for the week. I eat it on dark rye crisp bread (only 45 calories each!).  You could mix it with a salad or have it on celery for extra crunch.  Forget the mayo…this salad is so flavorful, you won’t miss it.

Mediterranean tuna salad

1 14.5 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans packed white tuna in water or olive oil (I prefer Trader Joe’s brand), drained

1 cup roasted red peppers (from jar), rinsed and chopped to make one cup

2 Tbsp capers, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Refrigerate.

*other possible additions:  feta cheese, pine nuts, chopped olives

Girl vs. Vegetables

This has been a tough week so far. It’s only week 2 and I’m already starting to feel like the vegetables are overwhelming my fridge. Okay, maybe it’s just the Romaine because I’ve gotten that two weeks in a row and, let’s face it, there’s only so much you can do with Romaine, right?

When I had a conversation with someone at work about joining the CSA, and after I expressed my hesitancy about the veggies I’ve never cooked or eaten (“What on earth am I going to do with kale?”), her response: “You have to make kale chips. My husband can’t eat enough of them.” Hmmm…then when I received an email from the farm with CSA week 2 recipes and a recipe for kale chips was included, I had to try them.

It’s too simple, really. Wash the kale, pull the curly leaves off of the tough stems, toss in a bowl with a bit of olive oil and salt, place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 20 minutes or until crisp at 300 degrees. I used truffle salt to add a bit more flavor. Garlic salt would also be divine. Don’t forget to line the cookie sheet with parchment for easy clean up.

What do you get? Well, they come out of the oven looking pretty much the same as when they go in. The difference is that they are extremely light and so crispy that I would call them fragile. Remove them from the cookie sheet and place in a bowl with a paper towel to absorb any extra oil. A word of caution: They should be eaten right away. My daughter dropped by the next day and said “Oh, are these kale chips?” (their reputation precedes them?). She tried one and it was already chewy. I have also included a photo of a lovely tomato, cucumber, basil salad with balsamic dressing that I made for a picnic. The cukes were from the CSA box, the basil from my backyard. This salad was a tasty accompaniment to egg salad sandwiches on rosemary lavender foccaccia (also from CSA).