Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tuesday - Happy Inauguration Day!

Tuna melts (recipe in the comments)
Raw broccoli with sesame ginger dressing as dip

Hot tea

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So we needed an easy meal for tonight because we were planning to watch coverage of all the inaugural balls. Hmph. No one had good coverage of the balls. NBC had regular programming. ABC stuck to just one ball the whole time. CNN spent most of the time wonk-ing away on the SAME political analysis with brief cut-aways to balls, but they were totally un-focused about it. Sigh. Desipte this, it was nice to have an easy dinner. I created the base recipe for these tuna melts one evening when M was really busy with work. They were a big hit and he added the horseradish and possibility of Jarlsburg as the cheese in later renditions. I truly thing these are amazing and, while not a health-food, they're better for you than most tuna melts. I love all the crunchy veggies and the horseradish really pushes it over the top.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Pepper, onion, celery, broccoli
Time: 20 minutes
Make ahead: You can make the tuna salad ahead and then mix it well before making the sandwiches last minute. They're not quite as good, but if you make extras they are pretty good cold the next day for lunch.

Reaction
J: "So yummy and SPEEDY!"
M: "Tuna goodness."

1 comment:

J said...

Tuna Melts – J & M
Makes 6 open face sandwich halves

2 cans tuna, drained
¼ red bell pepper, diced
¼ small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 T mayonnaise (heaping)
2 t horseradish (heaping), optional
5-6 splashes red wine vinegar
Ground black pepper
3 wheat or honey wheat English muffins, fork split
1 cup shredded or thinly sliced Jarlsburg or sharp Cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Flake tuna in a small mixing bowl. Add vegetables, mayonnaise and horseradish (if desired). Mix well. Sprinkle with vinegar and pepper. Mix again and taste for extra mayonnaise, vinegar, horseradish or pepper.

Divide salad onto English muffin halves – they should be heavily covered. Cover with cheese. Place on a baking tray (ungreased) and bake for 8-9 minutes or until just beginning to brown.

Especially if you didn’t add the horseradish, serve some on the table for dipping.

Adjustments for 8 halves:
3 cans tuna
⅓ red pepper
⅓ small onion
1 ½ stalks celery
5 T mayo
2 ½ t horseradish
8 splashes vinegar
Pepper
4 English muffins
1 ⅓ cups cheese