ref=”https://thinktasty1.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/tuna-salad-on-bagel-400×400.jpg”>
Back to school means sandwiches — for most students, anyway. In my own schooldays, I never cared for them, and was known to bring in cold egg rolls for lunch. What goes around comes around, and now I have one child who’s only gradually learned to eat sandwiches, and one who isn’t there yet, but comes home every lunch hour to get himself something hot. (Lately we’ve found pizza buns are an acceptable bag lunch. It’s even better, and cheaper, if you make them yourself.)
It can be hard to let go of summer the first few days of school, especially if the weather’s still hot. This sandwich filling has a little touch of summer in the taste to liven up the tuna fish and celery. It may be sweeter than some people expect in a tuna salad, but if they’re okay with that, they’ll like this. It’s also quick, easy, and healthy.
You can now get canned tuna fish that’s packed without water or oil. This gets rid of the need to drain it, which can be a pain, but also leaves you nothing to treat your cats with, except the empty can. Of course, they’ll enjoy licking that out, but what my cats like best is drinking the tuna-flavored water. So, though it can be a pain, and I always seem to get some of the water on my hands, I think I’ll stick with water packed tuna for now.
Some people prefer tuna packed in oil, of course, as this article at MetaFilter shows — some think tuna doesn’t have enough flavor unless it’s packed in oil. But this kind always seems a little too rich and fatty for me. Flavor can be added in other ways. Once in awhile, I enjoy marinated tuna, and pretty much any marinade contains oil. But that’s about it. Maybe I’m still too influenced by the low-fat trend from several years back.
If you do use tuna packed in oil, this article has some ideas how to use the leftover oil. It mentions giving it to the dog; I’m not sure I’d give it to my cats. We do enough cleaning up after them as it is.
If you’re a fan of pickles, why not try making your own out of zucchini? Get the recipe here.
- 1 can tuna, any kind
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
- 1 large stalk celery
- Drain the tuna and empty into a small bowl.
- Trim and wash celery and dice finely.
- Flake the tuna as small as you like it.
- Add the other ingredients and mix gently.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
