Fat Mama’s don’t ask me for a tuna sandwich - tuna sandwich!
On occasion my husband will ask me to fix a sandwich for him. I love to do that because he doesn’t have any preconceived ideas of what something should be. Lets be clear, I made him a tuna with sharp Cheddar on toasted sourdough bread.
I decided to make enough tuna for 2 so that my mom could have a Tuna Salad too. I did use canned tuna, but that was all we had.
Yes, there is bread under there somewhere.
So, I opened and drained my Tuna and put it in a large bowl. Then I started looking through my refrigerator, and the pantry.
I chopped a red onion up very finely, slivered some cheddar, peeled, seeded and chopped some cucumber, chopped sweet gherkins and celery, as well as fresh parsley from the garden. Now the fun starts! I used left over garlic Aioli (from the salmon we ate last night) and beat in some mustard as well as some seasoning salt and a table spoon of really good olive oil. I chopped up some Kalamata olives - those beautiful red briny ones, cup up some marinated artichoke hearts added chopped cashews and tossed it with the Aioli. Taste test, needed a bit of salt and some black pepper. I served it over Aioli dressed shredded and chopped red cabbage for my mom, but for my husband I put it on sour dough bread. If you look carefully, you CAN see the bread.
Almost anything can go into a fresh tuna salad, if you love how it tastes, you can try mixing it into a salad.
Pistachios are great, shredded Parmesan, marinated bell pepper strips, raisins, dried cranberry's, cherry tomatoes sliced into quarters. I do encourage that the tart ingredients be balanced with something slightly sweet. Pickle relish or sweet pickles wok well. I’ve taken Miracle Whip (I am a best foods girl myself) and beaten olive oil, spices - garlic powder, onion powder, Paprika and sometimes even anchovy paste into it. Lemon zest and juice is lovely mixed into the dressing. I love anchovies, Caesar salad is one of my favorites to make from scratch.
You could even add grilled fresh corn, and fresh peas. Have a creamy tuna filled sandwich kind of day.
Fat Mama