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Author:
Franco Salzillo
Warm sunny days are not for cooking; the folks down in the South know it, and that’s why they have a fantastic collection of outdoorsy recipes that are also pretty easy to put together.
Amongst all these goodies, there’s the tuna salad. A dish you can put together in around ten minutes, and that will feed the entire family. Here’s the deal. As long as you have a few tuna cans in your pantry, you can always make a hearty yet light lunch for your loved ones.
Let’s start from the beginning. To make an authentic southern tuna salad, you need a few everyday ingredients. Tuna, eggs, onion, mayo, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. The only two ingredients you might not already have are the celery and the cilantro leaves, so pick some up on your way home.
I love topping my tuna salad with hard-boiled eggs, which add nourishment and looks to the dish. If you’re not in the mood of boiling a few eggs, just skip them. You’ll also need a mixing bowl, a chopping board, and a knife.
Remember, you want to use the tuna that comes in water; the oily kind is quite tasty, too, but will produce a heavier salad. Tuna preserved in oil is better for pies and other warm tuna dishes.
Let’s chop everything up and combine it for a lovely salad. Don’t forget to garnish each serving with a few lemon wedges. And here’s another idea, serve your tuna salad with hoagie buns for the most filling and refreshing cold sandwiches.
Here are a few substitutions. If you want to make the most of a few tuna cans, blend your salad with a bag of pre-mixed coleslaw, and if you want to add some fancier flavors, throw in some capers! I love them!
Drain the tuna and pour into a large mixing bowl. Reserve.
Chop the celery and the onions in small dices.
In a small saucepan, boil water and cook the eggs until hard-boiled, about ten minutes. Let them cool, peel and chop in fourths.
Incorporate the chopped celery, onion, celery seeds, mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper with the tuna in the large mixing bowl. Mix well.
Serve the salad into four bowls and top each with coarsely chopped cilantro leaves and a lemon wedge.
Place two-fourths of a hard-boiled egg in each bowl.
