Tuna Salad Melt with Hearty Wheat Bread

Bread puts a smile on my face. Tasty bread puts a bigger smile on my face. Healthy tasty bread is an added bonus. Thanks to the Tastemaker program from Foodbuzz, I received a delicious loaf of bread to sample once again from Nature's Pride. It was good timing too as I had just finished the last bit of bread I had around the house. No bread in my house is a sad day. This time it was a loaf of their Hearty Wheat with Flax.

Let's just say that Nature's Pride Hasn't disappointed me yet. :) Of course with any bread the first thing that comes to my mind is a good ol' sandwich. This one is a nice tuna salad melt. It's got your typical tuna salad mixes like a tiny bit of may and sweet relish. This version has that with a little tropical twist of pineapple with some paprika, extra virgin olive oil and crushed cracker to give it a little crunch. Topped with some delicious slices of cheese and my all too favorite fruit...the avocado. Yes, the avocado is a fruit, if you didn't know. It's just treated and tastes like it's a vegetable. That's your fun food fact for the day. Put all that between two delicious slices of the Hearty Wheat bread and cooked it up like a grilled cheese sammy in ol' Georgie. This was my solution to an easy-peasy "I-don't-know-what-to-eat" kind of lunch.  

Makes 2 sandwiches.

Tuna Salad Melt

1 5oz can tuna (in oil)
1 tsp mayo
1 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp sweet relish
1/8 c crushed crackers (saltine)
1/8 c pineapple tidbits (with juice)
pinch of salt and pepper

4 sliced bread (Nature' Pride Hearty Wheat with Flax Seed)
Dijon mustard
2-4 slices mozzarella
butter
1 small ripe avocado sliced


To make the tuna salad portion, Drain most but not all the oil from the can. Mix in the mayo, paprika, sweet relish, cracker, pineapple, salt and pepper. Mix together well, then set aside.

Note: if you have tuna in water, drain the water and add a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.

Preheat your skillet on medium heat.

Assemble the sandwich, lightly butter one side of each slice of bread. Then lightly spread some dijon mustard on the opposite sides of each slice of bread. Place half the tuna on the dijon mustard side, followed by some avocado slices and a couple slices of mozzarella. Top with the other slice of bread. dijon side in.

Place the sandwich on the skillet and heat until toasted. Roughly 5 minutes. Place something heavy like a place with a canned good over the sandwich to help flatten the sandwich and help melt the cheese. Repeat the same process for the other side.

Serve warm.

Classic Tuna Sandwich

This is one of those memory lane foods. Imagine yourself back at your grade school lunch area. You open your little lunchbox or brown little bag and what do you find inside. Juice to quench you thirst, maybe some fruit, cookies or chips, maybe a thermos full of soup. Then there's the main attraction. The sandwich. I would always get a sandwich for lunch. I believe it was ham and cheese on white bread. I'd take a bite and I'd find it slightly odd how the bread would stick to the roof of my mouth. Then there would be other days when I'd get a different sandwich. I liked those days. It wold be a the classic tuna sandwich. A nice blob of tuna, mayo, relish between two slices of bread.

I decided to revisit those days and created a tuna sandwich with the regular mix-ins, but with the addition of some fine chopped baby carrots and panko crumbs. I made those cheese crispies again and added slices of avocado to the sammies. I pressed them in ol' Georgie (I didn't want the bread to stick to the roof of my mouth. I still find it an odd feeling). Oh, the memories. I guess the little orange peep likes the sandwich, too.

Makes 4 small sandwiches

Classic tuna sandwich

1 can tuna - water drained
1-2 Tbsp Mayo
2 Tbsp sweet relish
3 baby carrots - fine chopped
1/4 c panko crumbs
4 bread rolls
4 cheese crispies
1 small ripe avocado - sliced


In a bowl, mix together the tuna, mayo, relish,, carrots, panko. Divide the mixture between the 4 rolls and top with a few slices of avocado and cheese crisp.

Using a press, heat the sandwich until the bread it slightly toasted. If using a skillet, place a plate over the sandwich followed by a 12oz can to apply pressure. Cook on medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Flip to the other side and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Tuna Daikon Bake

 
I wasn't sure how this dish would turn out. It's one of those "I don't have much left in the pantry, so I'm going to throw whatever I can into the pot." This was the result of all that. Tuna, diakon radish, orzo pasta. A trio you wouldn't really find together. Okay maybe you would, but not something you'd easily find appealing to eat.

I turned the tuna and daikon radish in a sauce with some diced chunk tomatoes. A tuna-daikon sauce. The cool thing about the radish is that it absorbs the flavors its put in. Assembled it like you would for any pasta rish and placed it in a casserole. Topped it with a good helping of cheese.

Serves 3

Tuna Daikon Bake

1 c uncooked orzo
1 5-6 oz can tuna in oil
1 daikon radish - peeled and chopped
1 12 oz diced tomatoes
1 garlic clove - chopped
2 green onions - chopped
1 to 1 1/2 c shredded cheese - your choice
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Drain most, but not all the oil from the tuna.

Bring a pot with water to a boil. When boiling, season with salt and drizzle of olive oil and cook the orzo until al dente. Roughly 8-10 minutes. Be sure to give the pasta a quick stir to keep them from sticking to each other. Drain the water and set aside.

In a sauce pan, heat a little olive oil and saute the garlic for 30 seconds. Then add the green onions and saute until slightly tender. Add the tuna and heat for roughly 2-3 minutes.

Next add the tomatoes. bring to a boil then lower the heat and let it simmer. Add the diakon radish. Add the orzo to the tuna daikon sauce and mix well. Place the pasta mixture in a casserole and top with the cheese.

Preheat your oven to 350˚F

Place the casserole in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Serve warm.

Tuna Corn Casserole

No that isn't a dish full of broken tortilla chips. Actually, those are crushed taco shells. But hiding underneath is where you'll find a creamy delicious treasure I like to call a tuna corn casserole. I happened to be taking stock of what I had in the cupboards and shelves of the pantry and happened to see a couple cans of tuna left. What can I do with tuna that I haven't already done yet?

I don't think I made a casserole with them yet. If I did, it was something different. I can't remember. I had some ears of corn I had gotten from the farmer's market so I figured I'd add that into the mix as well. To top it off I'd make a lovely cheese sauce to mix into it. Yum! I oven roasted the corn and scrapped off the kernels. You can used the canned or frozen corn to save you time. Mixed it with the can of tuna and some chopped shallots.

For the cheese sauce, I used a combination of grated parmesan and some swiss. Cheesy deliciousness. Mixed it all together and topped it of with a layer of crushed taco shells.  Baked it in the oven for 20 minutes. The crushed taco shells got extra crispy while baking giving the dish a nice cunchy texture to the lovely creamy and cheesy sauce.  This is one casserole I'd make again and again.


Serves 2-3

Tuna Corn Casserole

1 6oz can tuna in oil
2-3 c corn kernals - fresh, canned or frozen
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
3/4 c milk
1/2 grated parmesan
1/2 c swiss
salt
pepper
1 shallot chopped
Crushed tortilla chips


Preheat your oven to 350˚F

In a casserole, combine the corn, shallot, and tuna.

On medium to low heat. In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Combine together to make a roux. When the mixture turns into a douy mass.

Add the milk.  Stir occasionally until milk thickens. Then add the cheese and stir until melted.

Pour the cheese mixture, into the casserole and mix to coat everything. Top With half the crushed tortilla ships and baked for 20 min.

Remove from pven and let it sit for 2 min. Top with the rest of the tortilla chips.

Broiled Mini Tuna Burgers

Did you know the first burgers were made in Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut. Now, it's one of the mostly widely know and loved food all around. I've mentioned this before when I posted the 10 fun food facts for the month of April. Their burgers are flame broiled and served between two slices of toasted white bread with cheese, tomato and onion as a garnish. No ketchup allowed. It's frowned upon. I'm serious with that last sentence, which makes me want to visit the place even more.

What does that have to do with these burgers? Absolutely nothing. Thought I'd share that with you all. No...wait...I lied. Back up a bit. Ok, so I had made a mini loaf of pan de sal over the weekend. I didn't have enough room on the baking pan and thought it'd be cute to make a mini baby loaf. For those interested, I got my mini-loaf pans at Sur La Table. I bought 4 for $2 each. It's a 2"x4" size. They do look cute when the bread comes out of the oven. You just want to go "aww...".

I wanted to make crostinis with it, but I didn't really have an idea what to top it with. I got a craving for tuna, yet I didn't want it on my usual salad fix. I cut loaf into 1/8-inch slices and as I did, burgers came into mind. I had some grape tomatoes left in the fridge as well as a block of manchego cheese.

I decided to made a simple sweet and sour sauce for the "ketchup". Mixed up the tuna with an avocado instead of mayo and added some sweet relish, panko crumbs and some ground pepper.

You can make the regular sized version of these burgers. Just double up the ingredients and use regular sized bread. Adjust broiling time accordingly. These fit me just right. You can use them as starters, too.

Makes 7 mini burgers.



Broiled Mini Tuna Burgers

1 7oz can tuna in oil.
4 tsp sweet relish
1 small avocado
1 c panko crumbs
pepper
14 small slices of bread
grated cheese
4 grape tomatoes (sliced)
sweet and sour sauce


Preheat your broiler.

Make the sweet and sour sauce. This can be done ahead of time and will keep for a long time in the fridge.

Drail most but not all the oil from the tuna. Mix in the sweet relish, avocado and panko crumbs. Season it with some pepper.

Mold the tuna mixture in 7 small patties. Place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Toast the slices of bread either in the toaster oven or the conventional oven for 5 min.

Put into the broiler for roughly 10-15 min then flip and cook the other side for another 5-10 min. You want to see a good char crust on it. 2 min before removing sprinkle the cheese over the patties and let it melt into gooey goodness.


Putting it together:
Spread some of the sweet and sour sauce on both slices of bread. Top with the tuna patty and tomato slices.

Tuna Pestodillas

I had a little avocado pesto leftover. I still have cans of tuna left in the cupboard. I wondered what I can make with the two. Field trip to Whole Foods. Looking up and down the aisle. I spot the torillas. Whole wheat goes into my basket. Check. Head to the produce section. Spot me some bell peppers and tomatoes. Take one of each. Check. Pay for items and head for the car.

Get home. Roast bell pepper and tomato. Remove provolone cheese and avocado pesto from the fridge and tuna from the cupboard. I finally get my "Ah-Ha" moment. A tuna-pesto quesadilla. A little itty-bitty twist to the classic cheese quesadilla.

You can also use the ready roasted bell peppers and tomatoes that are preserved in oil, if you're short on time.

It's really tasty. I've never had tuna quesadillas until this. It's always chicken or the regular cheese mix and until recently mushrooms. All that gooey deliciousness!




Tuna Pestodillas

4 taco-sized torillas
Avocado Pesto
1 Tbsp Lite mayo
1 5oz can tuna in oil
6 slices provolone cheese
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp dry parsley
1 bell pepper (deseeded and sliced)
1 large tomato (deseeded and quartered)
Olive Oil

Optional
Roasted Bell Peppers in oil
Roasted Tomatoes in oil


Preheat oven 400˚F

In a bowl, coat the bell pepper and tomato in a little olive oil, place on a baking sheet and roast for 30min. (You can also use the ready made roasted peppers and tomatoes if you don't have the time.)

Cool after roasting and cut into chunks.

Preheat your broiler.

Remove most, but not all the oil from tuna and put into a bowl. Add in the mayo, thyme, parsley, bell pepper and tomatoes pieces. Mix well.

Lay out a tortilla. On one side, place some cheese and fold over. Do the same for the other three tortillas and place on a baking sheet.

Place the quesdillas in the broiler for 3-5 min or until the cheese it melted.

Remove from the broiler and carefully open the quesadillas. Spread some avocado pesto followed by the tuna mixture and fold it closed.

Cut in half or enjoy it whole.

Tuna Corn Cakes with Garlic Yogurt Sauce

This is my entry to BSI (Blogger’s Secret Ingredient). Hosted this week by Sophia from Burp and Slurp. The secret ingredient chosen was corn. It just so happens that I had a can of sweet corn from Trader Joe's in the cupboard, so it seem a perfect time to use it. Plus since summer is upon us and corn is in demand, I needed to do something with it as well. I figured why not add tuna into the mix. It gave me a chance to use up two more cans of tuna from the bulk I bought from Costco. Sweet!

I quickly did a pan-fry to seal the top and bottoms crusts, then baked it for a few minutes to brown the edges and cook the inside. I served this with a garlic yogurt sauce and a freshly diced tomato lightly tossed with some salt and olive oil.



Tuna Corn Cakes

2 5oz can tuna in water
2 can sweet corn
1 c Panko Crumbs
1 shallot diced
2 egg (beaten)

Preheat your oven to 400˚F

Drain all the water from the tuna as well as all the liquid from the corn. Make sure they are both dry. Pat them with a paper towel, if needed. Mix the two together in a medium bowl. Add in the diced shallot and mix in the 2 beaten eggs.

Divide into 6 cakes.

On med-high heat, coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil. When the oil is hot enough, sear the tops and bottoms of the patties until they form a nice crust. (roughly 2-3 min)

Transfer the patties onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake for another 5-8 min to crisp the edges.

Remove from oven and serve.


Garlic Yogurt Sauce
1 5oz cup plain yogurt
2 garlic cloves minced
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt

Combine yogurt, garlic and lemon juice. Season with salt to taste.

Drizzle over the tuna corn cakes and garnish with some seasoned diced tomatoes.

Tuna Casserole with Roasted Eggplant

Don't be fooled by the look of this creamy glob of deliciousness. It may not have a pretty plating but the taste is worth it. I saw the original recipe on the back of a Campbell's Cream of Celery soup can and I had gotten a bunch of tuna from my last trip to Costco. I figured this was a good way to two use of those cans. Besides, tuna salad gets boring after a while. So here's my take on it. Rather than using curly egg noodles, I used small shell pasta.

Creamy, delicious, with some fresh herb-roasted veggies.



Tuna Casserole with Roasted Eggplant

2 5oz can tuna in oil.
1 small can Cream of Celery soup
2 medium eggplant (cubed)
1/2 medium onion (quartered and separated)
1/2 c milk or 1 small can of evaporated milk
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 large garlic cloves
1 Tbsp Dry Basil
1 Tbsp Dry Parsley (plus extra)
Salt
Pepper
2 c Pasta (of your choice. Rough estimate.) - I used small shells
1 c Panko Crumbs


Preheat oven to 450˚F

Toss the cubed eggplant and onions in a generous drizzle of olive oil with the dry basil, dry parsley, salt and pepper.

Place on a baking sheet or roasting pan along with one garlic clove at each end and put in the oven for 30-40 min.

While the eggplant is roasting, bring a stock pot full of water to a boil. Season the water liberally with salt and cook the pasta to al dente (roughly 10min). Then drain excess water.

Remove the oil, but not all from the tuna and shred the meat.

Once the pasta is done, place into a casserole and add in the cream of celery soup, milk and tuna. Mix thoroughly to combine.

When the eggplant and onion are done, add them into the pasta mixtures. Again mixing thoroughly to combine. Sprinkle the panko crumbs on top and some fresh or dry parsley.

Bake for 20min on a 400˚F oven.

Tuna Avocado Dip

I can imagine your faces are you ponder the title of this post. Tuna avocado...WHAT?! Yes...and it's really good. Not a strong tuna taste or aroma. Surprisingly, avocado is a nice substitute to mayo.

You can replace tuna with your prefer "meat" like chicken or some of the kind of seafood.


Tuna Avocado Dip

1 can tuna in oil
1 medium ripe avocado (pitted and lightly mashed)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to season


Drain the tuna of most, but not all, of the oil. Mix all ingredients together.

Serve with slices of french bread or crackers. You can even spread this on a sandwich.

T.M.T.

What you may ask is a T.M.T.? It is a Tuna Melt Tomato. They could be just called Stuffed Tomatoes, but T.M.T. sounds WAY cooler.

A few days ago Greg from Sippity Sup had announced a tomato contest, I figured why not? So, here's my entry. Besides, I felt like eating something relatively light after that feast from last week. =)



Tuna Melt Tomatoes

4 Medium sized tomatoes
1 5oz can tuna (in oil)
2 tsp Mayo
2 tsp Sweet Relish
1 C Panko Crumbs
Shredded Mild Cheddar
A few pieces of romaine lettuce.


Preheat the oven 350˚F.

Cut the tops off of the tomatoes. Then carefully cut and scoop out the ribs and seeds, making it into a hollow bowl. Set Aside.

Drain most, but not all of the oil from the tuna. Mix in Mayo, relish and panko crumbs. Blend thoroughly.

Divide the tuna mixture evenly among the tomatoes and top with some cheddar cheese.

Drizzle a little olive oil in a baking pan and place the tomatoes over.

Bake for 20 to 25 min. Serve immediately. Place the tomatoes over the lettuce leaves on a dish

The best way to enjoy this is to place some of the tuna and tomato in the lettuce leaf and eat it like a wrap.





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