Tuna and White Bean Lettuce Wraps

I have long been enamored with the combo of white beans and tuna, but had yet to actually try it. I would stare at photos and recipes that I came across in magazines or other food blogs. I would tell myself, "You really gotta try that soon." Finally, one day, I listened to the thoughts in my head and I got in the kitchen. I followed Tracy's recipe over on Shutterbean, which is an adjusted Sunset magazine recipe. She served hers on some toasted bread. I had some lettuce, fresh from the pop-in-law's garden, so I decided to do some little wraps for our weekend lunch. This recipe was quick to put together and tasted crisp and bright. I love finding new ways to serve canned tuna, which is one of my favorite pantry staples. Makes you wonder why it took me so long to try, doesn't it?

Tuna & White Bean Lettuce Wraps
Recipe from Shutterbean

1 can tuna in olive oil, drained
2 ribs celery sliced thinly
1 14 oz. can white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 big glug olive oil
1/4 of a red onion, chopped
Splash of red wine vinegar
Juice from half a lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

• All you gotta do is put everything in a bowl and mix it up right good.
  

My notes: I think I could have been a little heavier handed with the vinegar and lemon juice, but overall it came out great!

Take Two- Tuna Noodle-Casserole V2.0

I've shared this recipe before, or rather a previous version. I decided I'd love to have it again, since I'm not sure I'd even made it since I posted it long ago. It's based on a Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole from Everyday Food. When I tried out that recipe the first time I discovered that I just couldn't stand artichoke hearts. That lesson learned, I had to make a quick substitution and went with frozen peas. This time around I knew that peas were my go-to ingredient, but I also had some green beans that needed to be put to use. Also, I was able to pick up some whole grain egg noodles, which tasted great in this recipe- no big difference at all. I still haven't followed through on my idea of subbing white whole wheat in for the all purpose yet though. Maybe next time, because I think this recipe came out much better than the last. I think I've gotten better at working with flour and making a slight bechamel sauce too. The original Everyday Food recipe was a "Freeze It" feature, so it served 8. This recipe serves 4, but feel free to double up and tuck one in the freezer for a rainy day.

Tuna-Noodle Casserole
Recipe adapted from Everyday Food; Serves 4

2.5 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for baking dish
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 lb. whole grain egg noodles
1 red bell pepper, seeded and ribbed, thinly sliced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2.5 cups 2% milk
2 6 ounce cans tuna, packed in olive oil, drained
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup chopped green beans
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil 8" square or shallow 2 quart baking dish. In a large pot of boiling slated water, cook the noodles until 2 minutes short of al dente; drain and return to pot.
• Meanwhile in a large pot, heat oil over medium. Ad bell peppers; season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add mi8lk, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a simmer.
• Remove from heat; add mixture to noodles in the pot, along with tuna, peas, and green beans. Season with salt and pepper and toss. Transfer to baking dish and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes.

My notes: My green beans were pretty crisp still, next time I might toss them in the pan with the noodles for a moment before draining just to soften them up a little. Other than that the crisp was a night extra texture. The original recipe called for whole milk, which might make a slight difference in the creaminess of your bechamel, but honestly I couldn't tell enough of a difference to make it worth it for me. I'm fine with saving a few calories instead, ha. Oh, and I just spray my baking dish with some cooking spray, works just as well and saves me a little of my more expensive olive oil.

If you want to freeze this recipe: Prepare through step 3; cool to room temperature. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and freeze up to three months.
If you want to cook directly from the freezer bake it covered with foil, until center is warm, about 2 hours. Uncover, and bake until top is browned, about 20 minutes more. If you thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, the covered baking time is reduced to 30 minutes.

Cooking By The Seat of My Pants- Fast Ghetto Bruschetta

Last night was going to be really easy. I had some laundry to do, a few other tasks on my agenda, but dinner was going to be a snap. I was going to make Caprese Sandwiches, and I had picked up some yummy baked chips at the store this weekend to go with them. Pick some basil, slice a baguette, slice some tomatoes, slice some mozzarella, assemble, done. And that's precisely what I went about doing when I got home. Basil picked, baguette and tomatoes sliced, it came time for the mozzarella. Well, that's when I realized that I guess I'd had that ball of fresh mozzarella in the refrigerator for longer than I had thought. The "Use By" date was more than a month in the past. But, it looked alright, and had been in the refrigerator the entire time. I opened the package and the smell did not offend. I cut a slice, and the texture seemed a little weird. I took a bite and first impression was fine, but the after taste bowled me over. Mozzarella ball into the trash, I was stuck with already sliced bread and tomatoes and some basil. Immediately I figured bruschetta would be a good option, but it couldn't be my only option. First off, I'd never made bruschetta before. Second off, I didn't have enough tomatoes to top 8 slices of baguette. I did some pantry and refrigerator searching and came up with some olive-oil packet tuna, Parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, and red onion. I went to work and this dinner actually turned out to be really yummy. This is one of those really simple dinners that gives me hope that we won't starve to death when I start school in a month.

Fast Ghetto Bruschetta
Recipe by, uh, me; Serves 2

1 baguette, quartered crosswise, sliced lengthwise
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
Olive oil
1 6 oz. can olive-oil packed tuna, drained
2 tablespoons red onion, minced
Mayonnaise
Dijon mustard
Parmesan cheese, grated
Cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)
Coarse salt
Fresh ground black pepper

• Brush your sliced baguette with olive oil and place cut side down on a grill, griddle, or grill pan over medium heat to toast.
• Meanwhile, in a bowl combine tomatoes and basil; drizzle lightly with olive oil and toss. Season with salt and pepper, add Parmesan to taste, toss again.
• In another bowl combine tuna, red onion, and add mayonnaise and Dijon mustard to taste.
• Once your bread is toasted top slices with tomato mixture and tuna mixture. Top tuna slices with cheddar cheese, if you are so inclined.

My notes: You could also pop your tuna toasts under the broiler to get your cheddar cheese melted, but I was in a hurry to eat because I had laundry ready for folding. Everything in this "recipe" is more or less to taste. Crazy about basil? Add more. My husband loves Parmesan, so I put plenty in. I also added a dash of garlic powder to my tuna mixture, that's one of those personal preference sort of things. Work with what you like and have on hand.

I'm No Foodie

I know that my tastes in food are pretty low league. I'd like to think that my palate is starting to grow and expand, but sometimes that just isn't the case. And Tuesday night's dinner just proves that. I'd had my eye on this Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole from Everyday Food. So I put it on the menu for this week and picked up all the ingredients that I needed on my shopping trip. I'd never done anything with artichoke hearts before, but I wasn't too worried about that. Until I opened the can that is. I just couldn't do it. They smelled atrocious to me, and I just couldn't get past it. I've had recipes before where I thought a particular ingredient was pretty yucky, but everything came together fine in the end. This time I just couldn't work my way through it and after a minute or two I started thinking about what I could substitute them with. And I found my answer in the freezer- peas. Nice, bright green peas. The color and shape offered a nice contrast to the red pepper strips. Normally I would type out the original recipe verbatim and then note my changes below, but seeing as I will pretty much stick to this version from here on out, I'm posting it with my alterations. It is also a half version of the Everyday Food recipe, as it was their "Freeze It" feature, making enough for a casserole for now and casserole for later.

Tuna-Noodle Casserole
Adapted from Everyday Food Recipe; Serves 4

2.5 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for baking dish
Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 oz. wide egg noodles
1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, thinly sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup 1% milk
2 6oz. cans tuna packed in olive oil, drained
1-1.5 cups frozen peas
2-3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil 8-inch square (or other shallow 2-quart) baking dish. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until 2 minutes short of al dente, according to package instructions; drain, and return to pot.
• Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat oil over medium. Add bell pepper; season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add milks, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer.
• Remove from heat; add mixture to noodles in pot, along with tuna, peas, and scallions. Season with salt and pepper, and toss. Transfer to prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes.

My notes: The reasoning behind the milk- The original recipe called for 5 cups of whole milk. Halving it left me needing 2.5 cups. We don't drink whole milk, we buy 1%. So instead of having a bunch of whole milk leftover, going bad in my fridge, I bought a pint of whole and made the difference up with our 1%. I figure it saved us some nominal amount of calories and fat too. I bet I probably could have substituted some white whole wheat flour too. Maybe I'll try that next time.