lunch:
tuna and bean nicoise style salad
Published 28th January 2019
First of all, apologies for my absence in posting new recipes, but the holiday season and lack of routine has left me trying recipes out of new cookbooks I have been given or making quick meals, therefore, not coming up with anything creative and worthy of posting, but I’m back and will be aiming to post new recipes a little more frequently, as well as hoping to make a start on my cookbook this year!
Tuna and beans (from a tin) are 2 ingredients which are highly nutritious and can be used as a meal in themselves or added to other amazing ingredients to make something really special, such as this salad.
My inspiration for this salad came from an Instagram post from one of my oldest friends and ex-housemate. She was given a whole heap of tomatoes from her neighbour on a 40-degree day and mixed them with beans, tuna and pickled onions and lunch was sorted! This set my tastebuds tingling, so I sought out what we had in the vegetable garden and added a few more ingredients to the base, along with a dressing and thus we have this salad. Perfect as a meal by itself or you can omit the tuna and serve as a salad at a BBQ.
Tuna, or other oily fish (salmon, sardines, cod) should be eaten three times per week to get the required amount of essential fatty acids the body needs. As most people wouldn’t eat whole or filleted fish three times per week, tinned fish is not only convenient, it also makes reaching this target more achievable. Tinned tuna is great for a snack and also a great addition to a salad to make it into a meal. My favourite tinned tuna is Sirena tuna as it’s not as fishy or cat food like as some of the other brands. Essential fatty acids, or omega 3s are really important for brain and heart health and have also been shown to improve mental health when consumed regularly, as well as decreasing risk of cardiovascular disease.
You can use any beans for this salad. Four bean mix, borlotti, chickpeas, butter beans, cannellini beans, red kidney beans, whichever you feel like using. The beans I used, on this particular occasion, were chosen by Mark and Claire (who loved the salad by the way). If you prefer to soak your own beans, then feel free to do so. Beans are a great source of fibre and non-animal protein, making them a really good choice for vegetarians and vegans to help to get adequate protein in the diet. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, you would obviously omit the tuna from this recipe and the feta.
Enjoy xx.
Ingredients:
Serves 5
2 x 400g tins beans (I used butter beans and cannellini beans), drained and rinsed
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
2 tbs white wine vinegar
1 cob of corn, kernels removed
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
100g green beans, ends trimmed, blanched and cut into thirds
1/2 lebanese cucumber, cut into 1cm cubes
50g olives, roughly chopped
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2/3 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 an avocado, cubed
50g feta, crumbled
190g tin Sirena tuna, oil drained
Dressing:
2 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp capers, chopped
Method:
Slice the onion as thinly as you can (a mandolin works well here) and place into a small bowl along with the white wine vinegar. Mix well and set aside for at least 20 minutes.
Place the rinsed beans in a large bowl, along with the corn kernels, tomatoes, cucumber, green beans, olives, spring onion and parsley. Mix well to combine.
Prepare the dressing by placing all ingredients into a small bowl and stirring well to combine.
Add the avocado and feta to the beans, pour the dressing over the top and gently toss to allow the dressing to spread through the salad.
Place into a serving dish or onto plates and top with tuna.