The new week of meal planning in our household gears up Saturday morning. Ben rises early to begin a lobbying campaign for whatever he has set his heart on, but he has learned that subtlety is sometimes the most useful tool in his belt. Luckily, I am no longer so green that I can’t read his subtext. Earlier in the week, I had introduced the possibility of a tuna and white bean salad with peperoncini, or in our case, banana peppers. I showed him a picture from Bon Appetit magazine, and he was in. “Perfect!” I thought. It was my idea. He agreed. No stress or strife. What could possibly go wrong?
When you hear “tuna salad” you think of a sandwich filling, right? The bulk of the meal? Me too. Ben just hears “salad” and thinks it should come with a ribeye steak and ranch potatoes.
Saturday morning, while helpfully pouring me a cup of coffee, Ben says, “I’m really looking forward to cooking with you tonight.” Aww, how sweet! (Of course, the addition of the word “tonight” ensures that he locks in a meal that he has a hand in right away. If he plays his cards right, he might set the meal agenda for several of the next six days, too!) As Ben pours me my second cup of coffee, he mentions how good the salad recipe looks. (The omission of the word “tuna” in his description is calculated to help me see the recipe as a side dish, an accompaniment to a main dish.) Phase three occurs a few minutes later, when he sees that I am occupied with the Spelling Bee game, and his words have a greater chance of getting my tacit agreement. “I’ll just look through Hope’s Table (his favorite cookbook) and find that recipe for creamy Italian chicken to go with it.” There it is. Luckily, by then I am fully caffeinated, thanks to the sly fox himself, so I can thwart his attempts to have two main dishes in a meal. Not to mention, the combination of tuna salad and creamy Italian chicken sounds gross.
After a fairly animated conversation about what makes a salad and what makes a meal, we compromised and made cheeseburger subs! (Sorry Charlie! No salad, with or without tuna was served as a side or as a second main dish.)
The next day, we made tuna salad sandwiches for lunch and they were great, though I should have chosen a heartier bread. (I have been balking at Wegman’s $10 sourdough loaf.)
Anyway, I guess we both came out of it feeling like winners. Ben helped make two meals he wanted to make, and I got to keep tuna salad squarely in the sandwich category. Below is our version, adapted from the one in Bon Appetit.
Tuna Salad Sandwiches
Vinaigrette:
Zest and juice from 3 lemons
¼ cup brine from banana peppers
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup olive oil
Salad:
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
2 cans oil-packed tuna, drained
½ cup banana peppers
2 large celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 15-ounce can small white beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
For assembly:
1 romaine lettuce heart, chopped
Sandwich bread
- Place onion slices into an ice bath, and in a large bowl, make the vinaigrette. Whisk together lemon juice and zest, brine, mustard, salt and pepper. In a slow steady stream, whisk in olive oil.
- Into the emulsified vinaigrette, add the tuna, banana peppers, beans, celery, parsley, and onion slices that have been drained.
- Stir the lettuce into the tuna salad and spoon mixture onto a slice of bread, and top with another piece of bread to make a sandwich. (This probably makes enough for 6 sandwiches. If you are making it for future lunches, store the tuna mixture and the lettuce separately.)