White Bean and Tuna Dip

Perfect for a party – or even as a main for dinner

Dips are a natural for entertaining, of course. But sometimes we even have them for dinner.

And why not? They’re quick to make and quite tasty.

Take this White Bean and Tuna Dip, for example. It’s nutritious and comes together in just a few minutes. Add some bread, plus maybe some crudités, and you have a complete meal.

Ready in a jiffy. Gone in a flash.

Pasta Salad with Tonnato (Tuna) Sauce

Ham and peas add scrumptiousness to this summer classic

Pasta salad is a summer staple. And why not? It’s loaded with flavor, easy to make, and generally delicious. Plus, you can prepare it ahead of time.

It’s also versatile – you can change up the ingredients or the pasta shape to make a new (yet comfortingly familiar) salad each time.

Just think of the pastabilities.

Tonnato (Tuna) Sauce and Dip

This classic Italian dish is basically tuna mayonnaise

Tuna + mayo? Primo flavor pair.

This classic recipe makes it even better with capers and anchovies. Then smoothes the mixture into a velvety sauce.

Tonnato sauce is great on veal (and other meats, too). If you thicken it a bit, it turns into an excellent dip for crudités or chips.

Mayo-nificient.

White Bean, Tuna, and Swiss Chard Salad

Beat the heat with this savory no-cook summer dish

There comes a time every summer when the heat gets us down. And cooking sounds like no fun at all.

So what to do? Well, just raid the garden for greens and the pantry for a few staples. Then put together this quick no-cook dish. It’s satisfying but not heavy, with loads of healthy flavor.

This salad makes a great one-dish meal or a hearty side. It’s perfect for picnics too. And it takes only minutes to prepare, so you’ll be out of the kitchen in no time—and ready for some summer fun. Pool party, anyone?

Pasta, Bean, and Tuna Salad

Lighten Up for Summer with this Healthy Entrée Salad

I love all dried legumes and pulses, and eat them throughout the year — though I confess I’m most drawn to them in cold weather, when I make hearty soups, stews, and dals.  But beans make great warm-weather fare too.  Enter bean salads. 

Although there are many appetizing hot bean dishes that are ideal for warm weather, cold main-course salads seem particularly appropriate.  Because they’re high in protein and other important nutrients, they can anchor an entire meal.  They also made great side dishes at a barbecue or picnic.  Today’s dish would serve admirably in either role.

Best of all, it’s a snap to make.  Although I often put it together right before serving (and serve it at room temperature), you can also make it ahead and serve it chilled.  And because it contains pasta, it appeals to a wide range of folks, kids included.  Plus it’s oil- and vinegar-based, so it’s healthier than many mayo-based pasta salads. 

And the flavor?  Well, don’t plan on having too much for dessert — you’ll want seconds of this.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Corn Flakes Top this 1950s Classic

Many home cooks in the 1950s were mad for the new convenience foods — canned this or powdered that.  Although many of these items had become available earlier in the 20th century, they reached their zenith of popularity in the 50s. 

The 1950s were also the decade of casseroles.  “One-pot” recipes of the casserole persuasion have been around since mankind first invented cooking utensils, but people rediscovered them in the 1930s.  And eventually people realized that many of those swell convenience foods — condensed soup in particular — worked well in casserole assembly. 

Tuna Noodle Casserole was the quintessential 50s dish.  It required boxed noodles!  Canned soup!  Canned tuna!  Canned peas!  And a topping of boxed cereal!  How wonderful— you could make it without any fresh ingredients!  Convenient, no?

And amazingly enough, it was also a pretty good dish. 

White Bean and Tuna Salad

Serve this Fast and Easy Italian Classic as a Main Dish or a Side

We have some warm days ahead of us before autumn rolls in, so we’re still in the mood for lighter fare.  Nothing tastes better — or is quicker to prepare — than a refreshing bean salad.

Pairing white (cannellini) beans with tuna is a classic of Italian home cooking.  In the United States, the closest corollary would probably be tuna salad made with mayonnaise.

White bean and tuna salad makes a pleasing main course when you want something light for dinner or lunch.  It also works as a hefty side dish. 

Best of all, it requires only pantry staples.  In fact, you probably have the ingredients on hand already.  So you could make it — and be eating it — in under ten minutes.

Tuna Pasta Salad

Simple Summer Comfort Food

It’s been hot, hot, hot throughout much of the United States lately, with no letup from the heat immediately in sight. So most of us don’t want to spend more time than necessary over the stove. And somehow the thought of a big, heavy meal sounds unattractive at best, revolting at worst.

No, in these dog days of summer many of us want to eat lighter, but still crave flavor. A cold dish is ideal.

What better than a nutritious and relatively light pasta salad? Maybe the tuna pasta salad so many of us remember from childhood. A simple dish, but – like mac ‘n cheese – one that still delights us today.