The other day I was watching the Cooking Channel show, Extra Virgin. It stars Debi Mazar and her Italian husband, Gabriele.  This past week they made this pasta dish that sounded really simple, but really tasty.  It had bacon, corn and tomatoes tossed with pasta.

Our CSA this week had beautiful tomatoes and some ears of corn, so I was already mostly there.  I couldn’t find the actual recipe online, so I improvised, making it how I remembered it, and then adding shrimp to add protein…and yumminess.  And I had to make my usual adjustments:  whole wheat pasta and turkey bacon instead of the regular stuff.

This one was a definite hit.  Chris and I both LOVED it though, admittedly, the little dude wasn’t a fan.  I inhaled the leftovers for lunch today.

Growing up, tuna salad was a can of tuna mixed with mayo.  That’s it.  Maybe if my mom was feeling crazy, she’d put a little grated onion or diced celery in there, but that was rare.  So when my husband made tuna salad for me for the first time, I was AGHAST at how involved it was.  Carrots, celery, eggs, and…RELISH???  I’d never even tasted relish before.  But then I tried it, and I was hooked.  He makes a mean tuna salad.

I’ve tweaked his recipe slightly over the years to make it a little more healthful, but it’s still just as delicious as always.  Please forgive the slightly blurry photo.

Here’s how I make it.

Protein-Packed Very Veggie Tuna Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup diced carrots
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 2 5-oz cans solid white tuna in water, drained and flaked
• 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup sweet relish
• 1 hard-boiled egg + 1 hard-boiled egg white (2 eggs; discard one of the yolks)
• salt and pepper, to taste

So complicated, right?  Enjoy!

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I use recipes for almost everything I make.  I’m a slave to a written list of ingredients and directions and get nervous about straying too far from what the recipe tells me.  Of course there are some things I just make on the fly (chili and meatloaf come to mind…I never make them the same way twice) but for the most part I have a printed out recipe that I follow.

Not this time!  I bought some wild-caught salmon on clearance a month or so ago and had it sitting in the freezer.  I defrosted it the other day and was trying to figure out how I wanted to make it.  It’s not a cheap piece of salmon so I wanted something great.  I remembered seeing someone pinned a recipe for Garlic Dill Salmon and I decided that’s what I wanted to do.

Instead of hopping on to Pinterest to find that recipe, I just played it by ear.  I sprinkled the salmon with salt and dried dill, and then spread some minced garlic on top (the stuff from a jar).  I was nervous about how it would taste since I’d never had wild salmon (as opposed to farm-raised) before.  I wasn’t sure if it would be strong tasting, or just different.  My fears were unfounded.  The salmon was DELICIOUS.  It has flavor, but wasn’t fishy like salmon can sometimes be.  It was really wonderful and I’m so happy I kept the flavors simple and didn’t hide it under a sticky sweet sauce like I was tempted to do.  I’m a wild-caught convert.

I don’t have exact measurements, so the below is an approximation.  Season it the way you’d like it.  A little less dill, more garlic, etc.

Garlic Dill Salmon


Ingredients:

• 1 lb wild-caught salmon, cut into 4 fillets
• 1 Tbsp dried dill
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp bottled minced garlic
• cooking spray

You can find this recipe and many more at these parties. 

Roni is a bit of genius.  She takes normal pantry items and combines them in a way that makes you want to slap your forehead and yell, “Why didn’t I think of that??!!”

Like her, I always forget about tuna.  It sits in the recesses of my pantry until I come across a recipe like this, or I’m desperately digging in there to find something to make for lunch on the weekend.  Or a quick dinner because I forgot to defrost the chicken.  Because that happens more than I care to admit.

Usually I just mix my tuna with some hard-boiled egg, maybe some chopped veggies (carrots, celery, onion, even a red pepper), mayo/yogurt combo, and a bit of seasoning (have you ever tried a dash of curry powder in your tuna salad?  It’s delish!).  I make a good tuna salad, but something you want something warm and hearty.  That’s where these burgers come in.

This recipe packs some serious flavor.  The combination of the cheese and salsa takes it over the top and it’s a great, quick weeknight recipe.

Here’s how I made it.

Cheesy Salsa Tuna Burgers
Adapted from Green Lite Bites

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Dump all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Wash your hands well.
3. Mix all ingredients with your hands.  It’s really the only way to combine it well.
4. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and spray with nonstick spray.
5. Form mixture into 2 or 3 patties, depending on the size of your bun.  I use sandwich thins so I made them fairly flat but wide, to fit the bun.
6. Place patties in skillet and cook about 3 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and warm throughout.

(Yes, that is a real bite that I took.  I know it’s huge.  Don’t judge me.)

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