“I could eat this every day” tuna and bean salad
I love a dish that punches above it's weight, when the deliciousness/effort ratio is extremely in your favor. Trust me on this one. If you're not eating beans on the regular yet, this is the bowl that'll convert you.
This weekend I made a bag of navy beans. They're mild and versatile and cook up quick — a great beginner's bean. I'm using approximately half the batch in this salad, and the remaining beans (plus all the bean broth) will probably go into a soup.
Ingredients
- 1/2 batch of beans (any kind will do, but white beans like navy, cannellini or gigantes are classic)
- 2 ribs celery
- 1/4 red onion
- 1 small can of tuna (4-5 ounces), preferably packed in oil
- A few sprigs of parsley
- Salt and pepper
- Wine vinegar
- Extra virgin olive oil
Tools
- Mixing bowl
- Colander or slotted spoon
Steps
Drain your beans
Using a slotted spoon, scoop about half a batch of beans into a bowl. (Or drain with a colander and transfer to a bowl, but be sure to save the broth for another meal!)
Chop and dump and toss lightly
Cut the onion into a small dice and slice the celery thin-ish. Chop the parsley and toss all the veg into the bean bowl with a glug of olive oil, wine vinegar (red or white or sherry or whatever you like — tho balsamic might be too sweet), pepper and a little salt. (If you cooked the beans from dry, they should be plenty salty, so don't overdo it!)
Scoop the tuna from the can with a fork, into the bean bowl. It's a-ok (actually kinda awesome) to have some oil from the tuna in the salad. If you're using tuna packed in water, drain well and maybe add another glug of olive oil.
Give everything a quick toss to combine. Be gentle and try to not break up the beans too much. Taste and adjust with additional salt, olive oil, vinegar, etc.
That's it! Serve as a side, or a light lunch! I like eating it with some crusty bread to sop everything up. Or if you're doing low-carb or GF, scoop your salad onto some lettuce cups!
Make it your own
This recipe is about as simple as it gets. But there's lots of room to adjust for your pantry and/or make it even more delicious.
Use the best ingredients
The three big variables are your celery, tuna and vinegar. (And beans! Amongst our weapons...)
Organic celery is, to my taste, much, much better than conventionally grown. Any tuna fish will do, but if you can get oil-packed, that's a huge upgrade. And if I'm making this for a special dinner, I might use the expensive stuff.
Fancy vinegar is a little harder to come by, but if you've got some in the back of your pantry, this is the recipe to use it in. (I'll write up a guide to vinegars, etc., soon.)
And if you're in a pinch, this would be just fine with canned beans, but try to use some nice ones. I like canned gigante beans for snacking or salads — you'll find 'em in the store next to other Mediterranean stuff like stuffed grape leaves.
Switch up your mix-ins
We like our bean salad heavy on raw onions, but feel free to reduce or skip 'em! If you love onions but not the harshness, try this technique to mellow them out, or use pickled red onions instead.
Other crunchy veg would also be nice: thinly-sliced fennel, radishes or celery root are all great pairings for tinned fish and beans.
No parsley? Chop up some celery leaves! Got a garden full of tarragon? Go for it!
Want to really dress it up? Make a vinaigrette, and add some microplaned orange zest.
Further reading
Want more bean salads in your life? Here's a few to inspire you.
Hope you like it!
A few months back we had a houseguest and I made this salad for lunch. She's not a regular bean eater, and lemme tell you friends, “I could eat this every day!” were the literal words.
So, yeah, give it a shot! And as always, please hit me up over email with any questions, edits, etc. Your ideas make Bean Tips better!