Citrusy Tuna Salad
Back in the day when I would make tuna salad the traditional way with tons of mayo (cringe), pickle brine, pickles and celery. I probably didn't even salt it *gasp*!! Then the influence of YouTube, friends with better taste and finally a broadened taste pallet came in to play and now my tuna salad is nothing close to traditional. I make what I call a "relish" thats citrusy and crunchy. Then I mix in the smallest can of tuna, 5oz. It’s like a 60:40 relish:tuna ratio and it’s delicious! My favorite way to eat it is with potato chips; scooping up the citrusy, herby and briney salad with a salty chip makes the perfect light lunch or afternoon snack. Let’s make it!
Ingredients
5 oz can of tuna, your preferred tuna in water or oil
2 lemons
1/4 chopped parsley
1/4 chopped pepperoncini
1 tbl pepperoncini brine
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1-2 stalks of chopped celery, include the leaves if you have them
1 tbl mayo, you may want more to taste
Salt
Pepper
Directions
1. Cut the end of one lemon off and squeeze the juice of the cut off end into a medium bowl & toss. Cut thin slices of the lemon (including the rind), checking for seeds after each cut. *A cut seed will make it bitter* Fish out all visible seeds before cutting to avoid the bitter taste. Once you get to a point where it becomes hard to slice the lemon, about 1/4 of the lemon left, go ahead and squeeze the the juice of that last uncut bit into the bowl. Roughly chop the slices of lemon and add in to the bowl along with any juices on the cutting board. Add the red onion, season with salt and pepper and mix to combine. Let it sit and slightly pickle for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the chopped parsley, pepperoncini, celery and combine. Pause and admire how pretty is this!!?
3. Drain the tuna and add into mixture flaking it apart with a fork. Add the pepperoncini brine, juice of half a lemon and mayo. Season with salt and pepper, stir to combine.
4. Taste! Does it need more lemon? Squeeze more. Maybe it's too dry and you prefer more mayo. Add it. This is the beauty of this salad, you can really add, mix & substitute to your liking. Once it taste good to you, eat it the way you want!
