TUSCAN WHITE BEAN & TUNA SALAD

This is a fantastic warm-weather dish for when you want something hearty and filling, but just don’t feel like cooking. It’s also one of those preparations where the simplicity and quality of ingredients are more important to the final dish than following the recipe exactly, so feel free to add a bit of this and a little of that to your liking.

 

Ingredients

2 cups cooked and cooled white beans, drained (about 3/4 cup dried/soaked)

1/4 of a small red onion, sliced very thin

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 can of Tuna, chunked-up (save the oil)

1/4 cup orange or satsuma sections (peeled, pith removed)

 

Directions

1. Bring the red wine to a simmer, add the sliced red onion, and turn off the heat. Allow this to soak and cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the beans, chunks of tuna (not the oil!), orange segments, tomatoes, radish, basil, and arugula. Mix together gently with a wooden spoon.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the oil from the tuna, the minced garlic, both the zest and then the juice of the lemon, the sea salt and the chili flakes (if using). Whisk to incorporate and pour over the bean/tuna mixture.

4. Gently mix all ingredients together with the wooden spoon until throughly combined and give it a taste*.

* If you do not taste everything evenly across your palate, try a small squeeze of lemon to pull the flavors forward and a pinch of salt to bring all flavors out a bit more. Adding more oil will help spread the flavors evenly, but just take care not to add so much that it becomes “oily”, most fats in a recipe can quickly become an overwhelming component.