"I miss the sweet pickle relish," he said, oh-so-sadly.
Which got me thinking: is there a healthy way to make tuna salad with a touch of sweetness and crunch?
And then I remembered the Waldorf salad.
Between you and me, I've always thought Waldorf salad – made of apples, celery, and walnuts in mayo, served on a bed of lettuce – sounded really yucky. It seemed that the salad was confused about whether it wanted to be sweet or savory.
The concoction was created at the Waldorf Hotel (later to be the Waldorf-Astoria) in New York in the 1890s, and it appeared in a cookbook in 1928. The salad was so popular, it was featured in Cole Porter's "You're the Top" from the musical Anything Goes.
You're the top!
You're a Waldorf salad.
You're the top!
You're a Berlin ballad.
You're the boats that glide
On the sleepy Zuider Zee,
You're an old Dutch master,
You're Lady Astor,
You're broccoli!
I skipped the celery – 'cause I don't like it – and added scallions and spicy mustard for extra zing. I also changed up the nuts. Dave likes cashews; I like pecans. Ta-da! "You're the Top" Tuna Salad.
"You're the Top" Tuna Salad
This makes enough for two hungry people.
Ingredients:Directions:
2 cans tuna (I prefer it packed in olive oil.)
1 small apple, diced
a few scallions, green tops only, sliced thin
1 oz. pecans, walnuts, or cashews, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon mustard
2-3 tablespoons homemade mayo
salt & pepper to taste
NOTE: If you like celery, a sliced stalk would not be a bad addition.
1. Place apples, scallion tops, nuts, and celery (if using) in a medium-sized bowl. Mix well.
2. Drain liquid from tuna and add tuna to the boil. Mash with a fork to break up tuna and blend ingredients.
3. Add mustard and mayo, then mix with a rubber spatula until well-blended. If you can stand it, let the tuna salad sit for 15 minutes so the flavors can meld. While the tuna ingredients are getting to know each other, cut up some raw vegetables to eat alongside... This is also yummy served with butter lettuce leaves to make hand-wraps, or stuffed into the halves of a raw red pepper.
NOTE: To balance the creaminess with a tiny tangy bite, add 1 teaspoon of vinegar along with the mayo in step 3.
I make home-made chicken and tuna salad a lot. I like to add grapes to my chicken salad for the sweetness and apples to my tuna salad! Yummy! Haven't tried adding scallions yet but definitely will. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis looks yummy! I thought the idea of mayo and apples were gross until I tried it a few years ago, for the same reasons you stated. I use the combo in chicken salad a lot, but I never thought about tuna. I'm fortunate to live close enough to the pacific coast where we can get tuna from the boat. Then we take it home and can it ourselves and now I'm spoiled. It's hard to eat tuna from the grocery store now. It's even good straight from the jar :) But I LOVE LOVE LOVE me some tuna salad and I can't wait to try yours.
ReplyDeleteYum! I love tuna these days...this looks delicious. I also appreciate the Cole Porter reference...I was once in a Cole Porter Revue at this really intense theatre camp...your lyrics bring back geeky memories.
ReplyDeleteOooh this looks amazing. And I pretty much love your mayo. It's bordering on obsession.
ReplyDeleteI added capers, some Sarracha (sp), and chopped bell pepper! Super yummy, thanks for saving my paleo booty tonight!
ReplyDeleteThis looks super yummy! What brand of olive oil do you use to make your mayo? Everytime I try to make my own mayo it just doesn't taste very good and I suspect my brand of olive oil may be the issue.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad y'all are excited about this recipe. I made a batch of mayo at, like, 9:30 last night, just so I could make tuna salad today. YUMMY!
ReplyDeleteGirl + Puppy --> Love the mods!
Ami Marie --> I use my grocery store brand of "light tasting" olive oil. You can't use extra-virgin... my recommendation is to buy the cheap0 kind and look for a label that says "light tasting" or "light flavor" -- that means it won't taste too olive-y. If you can't make it work with olive oil, you can use a nut oil instead but they can be expensive.
I would suggest raisins for sweetness.
ReplyDeleteI also like sweet relish but find raisins and finely chopped apples to be a suitable replacement.
Thanks for the speedy reply! I'll pick up some cheap0 olive oil this weekend and give it another shot!
ReplyDeleteI think I've become addicted to the homemade mayo. I don't know if it's just because "I made it" or because I know it's "clean" or because it tastes so yummy!
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm curious. Did he like the tuna salad with the apple??
Looks delicious. I had a friend who used to make one like this, but also added shredded carrots and caraway seed sometimes.
ReplyDeleteMarcus --> I agree: raisins are yummy, but I have a tendency to overeat them, so I usually stick with fresh fruit, rather than dried, because it's less like candy :-)
ReplyDeleteBut now you've got me thinking: curry powder, raisins, nuts... that's a tasty combo.
For the longest time growing up I thought the only way you made tuna fish salad was with apple in it; as that was the way my Nany (Grama) made it. This was up
ReplyDeleteuntil I was over at a friends house and his mother made it with put it. I was like sorry you forgot to put apple in it or are you out if so I can get a couple from my house. And that's how I found out not everyone put apple in their tuna fish sanwiches.
Now I need to make some of my own.
Josh
Also in stead of tuna fish try it with baked salmon or other baked fish if you don't liked caned tuna.
ReplyDeleteOh, good stuff.
Josh.
Josh --> That's awesome: "You forgot the apples."
ReplyDeleteMy mom always put apples in tuna salad. It's a definite improvement!
ReplyDeleteWhere I miss the sweet pickle relish is, believe it or not, in deviled eggs.
I like them without it (spicy mustard to the rescue), but I'd like them better with it!
After all the praise for your mayo, how could I NOT want to try it?!?! That's on the list for this weekend. :) What is the white accompanying veggie on the plate in your photo? Jicama? If so, do you cook it? I've been wanting to try it lately.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is jicama -- and it's SO yummo!
ReplyDeleteI eat it raw in sticks or grated in salads. It can be tricky to prep. Here's what I do:
Wash the jicama.
Cut it in half through the roots (like you would an onion).
Peel it. (This step is annoying!)
Cut into 1/2 inch slices, then cut those slices into matchsticks.
EAT!
Thanks for the recipe, I am taking this to work for my lunch. I work in a cafe by the way, so having something delicious to eat while my co-workers are eating the typical Ecuadorian meal of Rice with potatoes, with less than a 1/4 cup of meat will be important.
ReplyDeleteBecka --> Being around other food all day must be kinda tough. Hang in, sister!
ReplyDelete