When Nothing Else Will Do

In case you haven’t noticed in the dozens of post I’ve done on the matter, I get food nostalgia. I have so many memories of specific dishes, recipes, smells, that remind me of different times in my life.

This is an odd one though.

There are few foods that I remember loving as much as I love my mom’s tuna salad. Yup, you read that right, tuna salad. I can remember being a little girl and going back to the dish of tuna in the fridge 3, 4, or even 5 times to get more, even if I was totally full. My mom would make a HUGE amount, and no matter what, I’d eat it.

I always knew when I had a tuna salad sandwich for lunch at school when I’d open my bag and see a foil-wrapped package instead of my usual plastic bag, and it would make my day!

After a long hot day at camp, the last thing I wanted to do was turn on the stove or the oven, and when I really thought about it, tuna salad was what I wanted. Adam stopped at the grocery store for ingredients while I met up with our wedding photographer to pick up our album (it’s FABULOUS!), and I came home and got to chopping.

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Mom’s Tuna Salad

Ingredients

3 cans white tuna in water, drained

3 ribs celery, finely chopped

1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

juice of 2 limes

salt to taste

~2 Tbsp. real mayonnaise

Directions

Mix the tuna with the celery, onion, lime juice, pepper and salt. Stir in mayo until the salad holds together, it might be more or less than 2 Tbsp. depending on the moisture in the salad. Refrigerate until cool and enjoy.

I did my best to remember what to do, but I’m not positive my mom used onion like I did… but it worked! It hit the spot, and I definitely consciously had to STOP eating it so I had some left over for other meals.

Camper quote of the day, said by 8 year old girl: “Mara! Look! I have nuts! (Holds up pistachios) {pause} Why does everyone laugh when I say that?”

Have a great day!

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Speaking Our Language

While at my mom’s the other day watching the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup (!!!!!!), we were reminiscing about healthy recipes I enjoyed as a kid. She reminded me of a few that you’ll be seeing in days to come, but one really stuck in my mind because it was not only easy, but I vividly remember it being one of the few things I liked that contained raw cabbage. I loved it cooked, but raw? Notsomuch…except this ONE.

So my mom and I went on and on, talking recipes, going over things that were from my childhood that, lo and behold, were really super healthy, and I went back to this one. I love talking recipes with my mom. Usually, the conversations go something like this:

“So, mom, I want to make that cabbage salad we were just talking about.”

“Ok, so, its a head of cabbage, you know, cut up into shreds (cue “shred” hand motion) and put that in a bowl.”

“Ok.”

“Then take one vidalia onion and cut it really thin (cue “thin onion slice” hand motion, similar to “shred” hand motion). Put that on the cabbage.”

“Ok.”

“Slice up a few pieces of roasted red pepper and add that to the cabbage and onion. (Cue “piling ingredients on top of each other” motion)”

“Ok, so cabbage, onion, roasted red pepper…what else? (Cue “piling ingredients hand motion”)”

“Ok, then you’re going to add salt and pepper to that, and then take two cans of that Italian tuna packed in olive oil and drain off most of the olive oil and add that to the cabbage mixture (more “piling ingredients” motion).

“Ok, can I use normal tuna and olive oil?”

“Sure, but the Italian tuna has a really great flavor, but that’ll work, sure.”

“Ok, what else?”

“Then, add red wine vinegar (cue “shaking a bottle” motion) and taste it, and add more salt and pepper if you need to.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it!”

And this is why I cook the way I do. No real measurements, more of a process or a procedure, and also why I tend to have a really hard time following a recipe… so I made this lovely cabbage salad and it was bright, beautiful and a whopping 4 meals for me and a couple friends!

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Now, the recipe in language you all will understand as opposed to “Mara and Mom-ese”

Tuna Cabbage Salad

Ingredients

* 1 head green cabbage, rinsed and cut into shreds

* 2-3 pieces roasted red pepper (jarred or fresh) sliced

* 1 vidalia onion (or other sweet onion) cut in half and sliced thinly

* 2 cans Italian tuna packed in olive oil OR 2 cans white tuna in water, drained

*1/4 c. red wine vinegar

* Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place the shredded cabbage, onion, and roasted red pepper in a large bowl. Drain all but a little bit of the oil off of the Italian tuna and add it to the veggies. (If using regular tuna in water, add 1 Tbsp. olive oil at this point too.) Top with the red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and stir very well. Serve immediately for a very crunchy salad, or chill for up to 2 days for a slightly softer one.

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Now, more of what you’ve been waiting for: The Camper Quote Of The Day! “Mara! I just really scared that bug over there!” “Oh yeah? How’d you do that?” “I said boo!”

This was a close one though, because a slightly older camper did say “Hey! There are two dragonflies mating over there!”

It was a fun day today, though exhausting… I don’t think I’ll be up much longer!

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