Classic Tuna Salad

Ingredience

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 (5-ounce) cans solid white tuna in water

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 celery rib, minced

2 teaspoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon sugar

Pokyny

1. Combine onion and oil in small bowl and microwave until onion begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Let onion mixture cool for 5 minutes. Place tuna in fine-mesh strainer and press dry with paper towels. Transfer tuna to medium bowl and mash with fork until finely flaked.

2. Stir mayonnaise, celery, lemon juice, sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and onion mixture into tuna until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. (Salad can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.)

Poznámky

Tuna Salad with Hard-Cooked Eggs, Radishes, and Capers

Substitute 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for mayonnaise. Add 2 thinly sliced hard-cooked eggs; 2 trimmed, halved, and thinly sliced radishes; and ¼ cup capers, minced, to salad.

Tuna Salad with Apple, Walnuts, and Tarragon

Add 1 apple, cored and cut into ½-inch pieces; ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse; and 1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon to salad.

Tuna Salad with Cornichons and Whole-Grain Mustard

Add ¼ cup finely chopped cornichons, 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives, and 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard to salad.

Tuna Salad with Curry and Grapes

Add 1 teaspoon curry powder to bowl with onion and oil before microwaving. Add 1 cup green grapes, halved, to salad.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS A classic lunch box staple, tuna salad too often turns out watery, chalky, and/or bland. It may sound odd, but the key to great tuna salad is to first thoroughly drain chunked tuna and dry it with paper towels. Mashing the dried tuna with a fork made for a nice, uniform consistency. To moisten the salad, we quickly infused olive oil with chopped onion in the microwave and added it to the tuna, along with a bit of sugar, lemon juice, and mayo to round out the flavor. We tasted every variety of canned tuna and the runaway winner was solid white tuna packed in water.

For slightly milder salads, use an equal amount of shallot instead of onion.