Tuna Chopped Salad
Sometimes, inspiration strikes in odd places. A couple of weeks ago, as I sat in the waiting room at my doctors office and flipped through an old issue of Bon Apetit, a recipe for a tuna chopped salad caught my eye. We were expecting a heavy snowfall that day, and though the weather outside was blustery and cold, that recipe stuck in my head, making me think thoughts of spring.
Last night, as New York was hit with yet another wintry blast of snow and ice, I did my best to reconstruct that tuna chopped salad recipe, my way of telling Old Man Winter that he won’t break me. Spring’s just around the corner…
Chopped Salad with Italian Tuna
Viniagrette:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tbsp. dried oregano
salt and cracked black pepper
Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
Salad:
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 carton grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
2 tbsp. nonpareil capers
1 jar Italian tuna in oil
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
salt and cracked black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
In a large bowl, combine chickpeas, tomatoes, onion, carrot and zucchini. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice, and toss well. Remove tuna from jar, leaving most of the oil behind, and add to veggie mixture. Toss to combine, breaking up the tuna into chunks (be sure not to flake it!). Add parsley and vinaigrette, and toss again until the mixture is coated.
I served this atop a bed of baby arugula, with wedges of toasted whole wheat pita on the side.