Mediterranean Tuna Salad with Olive Dressing

This is the elegant magazine version. They used garnish!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: The fabulous Kaye Barley is going to be blogging here on Sunday, our usual recipe day, so I'm going to share a dinner suggestion with you today. I ran across this in  BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS magazine and tore it out, thinking it would be fancy to serve to guests. However, when  generous neighbor gave us a huge bowl filled with fingerling potatoes and wax beans, it was like a message from the culinary gods. And I'm so glad I listened! 

It turns out Mediterranean Tuna Salad with Olive Dressing has all the elements I look for in a recipe: it's cheap (but doesn't look it) extremely fast and easy, and, important for cooking when it's 90 degrees out, only requires ten minutes of boiling (so it won't heat up the kitchen to unbearable levels. Oh, and most importantly, it's delicious. I doubled the recipe, which made enough for three hungry adults with two lunch-sized servings left over for the next day. Here it is:

Mediterranean Tuna Salad with Olive Dressing (double portion)

2 lb. tiny new potatoes, halved if large (but if you use fingerlings like I did, you don't have to do any slicing at all!)

2 lb. fresh green beans (I used wax beans.) You only have to snap off the thick stem end - again, no cutting or other snapping involved. Super quick.

2 16 oz cans of white tuna (those are the big cans. It would take 6 little cans to get the same amount.)

Dressing:

1 cup green olives with pimentos. (The standard jar makes one cup. You could go all fancy, I suppose, but I used one  of those no-name brand jars of cocktail olives, and it turned out fine.)

6 Tbsp good olive oil (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp) Use the good stuff, it does make a difference.

2 Tbsp spicy Brown mustard. I only had spicy sweet-hot and used that instead, and it was quite nice.

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp sugar

Throw the potatoes into water and bring it to  boil.  Let them boil for 5 minutes, then add the beans and boil for another 5 minutes. You want the veggies to be just fork-tender.


Meanwhile, dump all the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor, blend or process until they're smooth and creamy.

Combine potatoes, beans, and flaked tuna (try to leave it in bite-sized chunks.) Add the dressing.


That's it! The original recipe picture clearly shows the meal plated individually, with the dressing drizzled over artistically arranged beans and potatoes. But really, who does that? I tossed it all together in  big salad bowl. It wasn't as pretty, but it was super easy and boy did it taste good.

To be fair, this is also day-after leftovers.

New England Baked Bean Suppah (on the quick!)

 
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: As I think we've determined in previous posts about food or Sunday recipe shares, I am all about the quick and convenient when it comes to cooking. If it takes more than 20-30 minutes prep time, I'm more likely to say, "The heck with it," and buy a rotisserie chicken at the Hanneford. Which is why I love my cheater-cheater version of the traditional baked bean supper.


If you go to a Saturday night bean supper in Maine, you'll get baked beans, brown or corn bread, hot dogs (we like the red kind up here) slaw and a selection of old-fashioned baked desserts. There are lots of other variations: mac and cheese, green bean casserole, etc., but those are the basics. Making any of them from scratch is time consuming, to say the least. Of course, you can buy it all pre-made, but I prefer to actually put together some of it for the family. Here's how you can do it, too. As always, I tend to wing amounts, so adjust to feed your family.



Faked Beans:
2 to 4 large cans of white beans
1 onion, diced
1/4 to 1/2 lb. bacon, diced (easier to dice if it's semi-frozen.)
1/2 tsp powdered mustard
1/2 cup molassass
1/4 cup brown sugar
boiling water to cover beans.

Saute the onions and bacon in a large pot. Put everything else in and pour in boiling water to cover the beans. Lid them and let them simmer at a low boil while you make the rest of the supper.



Corny Corn Bread:
One box of that cheap-o corn bread mix
1/2 can of corn niblets

Mix the corn bread according to directions and add the niblets. Let it rest a few minutes, then spoon into muffin tin. Sling it in the oven following the box instructions. Told you this was a dead easy meal.



Hot dogs: Get Jordan's for that authentic Maine taste. Slaw: I get mine from the Hanneford.



Dessert! Dump Cake:
1 stick butter
1 box yellow or chocolate cake mix
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can shredded pineapple
1/2 bag of coconut flakes


Nuke the butter in a cup until it's melted. In a large rectangular cake pan, dump the pineapple, then the cherry pie filling. Spread 'em around evenly. Shake the cake mix over the fruits evenly. Sprinkle with coconut flakes. Drizzle the melted butter over the cake mix. Bake according to the mix directions. If you put it in when the corm muffins come out, it will be hot and gooey just in time for the end of the meal.



Serve while marveling that the Red Sox are going to the World Series!

Shaun Best/Reuters