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Saturday, 13 May 2017

Tuna and bean salad (tuna fagioli)

A simple salad, packed with protein and fibre. You can cook the beans in advance and keep them in the fridge, meaning you can cook them when you have time over the weekend and then have the salad on a weeknight. I think that boiling your own beans gives a slightly nicer texture than tinned. If you don't want to bother cooking up the beans, then you will need just under a full tin of cannellini beans. If you prepare the salad and keep the dressing separate, you could take this into work as a packed lunch. Given the Italian influence, it would be nice to eat it outside, rather than "al desko". 


Tuna and bean salad (tuna fagioli)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

100g dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight in water
1 tin, line caught tuna steak in oil, broken by hand into chunks
1 big handful of roughly chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
10 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large red onion, peeled, halved and cut into thin slices (you could use two smaller echalion "banana" shallots instead)

Dressing: 

10ml (2 teaspoons) fresh lemon juice
30ml (2 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil
2ml (just under half a teaspoon) Dijon mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:


1. Wash the soaked beans. Put in a saucepan, covering in plenty of water. Bring to the boil, ensuring any scum is scraped off. Turn the heat down and simmer for 30minutes to 45minutes or until tender. You want a little bit of "bite", so cook until a little bit firmer than baked beans. Drain, run under the cold tap to arrest the cooking process. Set aside, or refridgerate in a container until needed. 

2. Prepare all the other salad ingredients, and mix together in a large salad bowl. 

3. Take a mug (or a jam jar as advised by Jamie Oliver). Put the mustard in, followed by the lemon juice. Mix up with a spoon so that the mustard is watered down by the lemon juice. Then add the olive oil, stirring until combined. 

4. Dress the salad and turn it over a couple of times to ensure everything is thinly coated with the dressing. 

5. Divide the salad up into two bowls. Season to your taste. 

Enjoy!

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