So Many Dishes

I don’t know about you, but if I’ve eaten cheesecake at lunch, I’m really not interested in eating a lot for dinner. Even though Ken and I had both chosen a salad as our entree at Ocean Grill on Friday, we had decided to make a salad for dinner to counter the decadent dessert.

We decided to try a recipe we hadn’t tried before, Andalusian-style tomato salad with olive oil tuna, from Milk Street Tuesday Nights Mediterranean. I hadn’t pulled this cookbook off the shelf in several months until I made my favorite version of panzanella a couple weeks ago (and which I promise to share one of these days). It was a reminder that every recipe we’ve tried from this book has been delicious, and this new dish is no exception.

This is a very easy and summery salad that doesn’t require turning on any appliances. Anything that keeps the kitchen cool in the heat of a Florida summer is a definite plus. (I should probably put an asterisk behind that statement, because the recipe includes hard boiled eggs, which I had cooked the day before.) The recipe says that it makes 4 to 6 servings, so I cut it in half. That was plenty. I’m including the full recipe, but it’s simple to halve.

The recipe is very specific that you should use tuna packed in olive oil, and not water-packed tuna. There’s a definite difference in taste and texture; although I normally use water-packed tuna, I can’t imagine this dish without the oil-packed tuna.

Andalusian-Style Tomato Salad with Olive Oil Tuna

• 1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 medium bell pepper (any color), stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup drained capers
• Two 5- ounce cans olive oil-packed tuna, drained and flaked into small pieces
• 1/2 olive oil
• 4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

In a large bowl, toss together the tomatoes, cucumber, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. In a medium bowl, stir together onion, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Let both stand for 10 minutes.

Using tongs, lift the onion slices from the vinegar, allowing the excess to drain back into the bowl, and add them to the tomato-cucumber mixture; reserve the vinegar. Add the bell pepper, capers, tuna to the vegetables, then toss gently.

To the vinegar, whisk in the oil and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Stir in the parsley. Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss. Transfer to a serving dish and top with the egg wedges. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Happy eating!