Salads with contrasts in texture, color, and taste continually enchant me. This white bean and tuna salad has the crunch of celery, the soft yet firm bite of cooked white beans, the vibrant purple of fresh radicchio, all brightened by the taste of lemons. It’s beautiful, it’s delicious, and it’s a snap to put together.
I ran across the inspiration for this salad in a recipe adapted from chef Seamus Mullen’s cookbook Hero Foods, in the April 2012 issue of Bon Appétit. Mullen wrote his cookbook after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and discovering that certain food choices helped him to feel better. In Hero Food Mullen explains, “I do not believe that what we eat can cure illness, but I do believe that eating well and mindfully can improve our sense of well being.” This salad, with its high protein combination of legumes and lean fish alongside parsley, combines three of Mullen’s “hero foods.”
The magazine’s food writers simplified Mullen’s technique by using canned beans instead of cooking dried ones. I almost always have canned white beans and tuna on hand in my pantry, which makes a quick first step in preparation. To Mullen’s simple celery and parsley, I added some chopped green onion to widen the flavor profile and fresh wedges of tomatoes, for both color and taste.
The original recipe called for serving the salad on a bed of vibrant radicchio leaves. While you may have to search out radicchio at the grocery store, it is worth the hunt. The leaves of this relative of chicory add a subtle hint of bitterness to the base of the salad that works wonders with the other flavors. And it’s so gorgeous! (I have also served this salad atop regular salad greens and loved those results, too.)
Instead of making one cup of parsley vinaigrette in a blender, as the magazine instructed, I went the deconstruction route. First, I added some minced parsley directly to the beans and tuna mixture. Then, I whisked together just enough vinaigrette to dress the salad–and threw in the zest of the lemon I juiced. Amping up the lemon flavor gives the salad a bright note.
Sometimes I mix the salad right before we eat and serve it, but if the bean and tuna mixture is allowed to sit refrigerated with the dressing on it for a few hours, it just gets tastier.
To assemble the salad, I placed the gently torn radicchio leaves on a large platter and tossed them with a bit of the vinaigrette. Then I spooned the bean and tuna salad over the leaves and garnished the top with tomato wedges, a bit more green onion, and parsley. The final touch was a couple of turns of the black pepper grinder.
We love eating this salad in the winter, when radicchio is more commonly available, but it’s a delicious, easy-to-put-together meal any time of the year.
Lemony White Bean and Tuna Salad
Sunnyside Cook
Ingredients
Vinaigrette
- Zest of one lemon
- Juice of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Salad
- 2 15- ounce cans of Great Northern or cannellini beans drained, rinsed, and drained again
- 2 5- ounce cans of good quality tuna preferably packed in olive oil, drained and broken into pieces
- 2 celery stalks sliced thinly on the diagonal
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
- 3 green onion tops thinly sliced
- 1 medium head radicchio cored, leaves coarsely torn (or 4-6 cups of torn salad greens)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Garnish
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced green onion tops
- 3-4 small tomatoes cut in wedges
Instructions
- For vinaigrette: After zesting the lemon, cut it in half and squeeze its juice into a small measuring cup. Add the zest, garlic, and vinegar to the cup and allow to sit for 10 minutes (while you chop the vegetables). Whisk the olive oil into the lemon mixture slowly. Season the vinaigrette with a bit of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- For salad: Mix together the white beans, tuna, celery, green onions, and parsley leaves in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle all but 1 tablespoon of vinaigrette over the bean and tuna mixture and toss gently to distribute it throughout.
- Arrange the torn radicchio leaves on a large platter. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of the dressing over and toss to coat the leaves.
- For garnish: Mound the tuna and white bean mixture on top of the radicchio leaves. Garnish with tomatoes, parsley, and green onion slices. Season with an additional sprinkle of ground black pepper.
Notes
Taste for seasoning after refrigeration, adjusting salt and pepper to your liking. Wait until right before serving to dress the radicchio leaves. Adapted from Adapted from Hero Food by Seamus Mullen via Bon Appétit (April 2012)
Now, I am awake and reading this post…making me hungry (and not for some toast!). Tuna we have, I know for a fact! We just had a conversation about how many cans we had tucked away, I won that contest, I can boast! Thank you ,Dawn for this lovely idea from Sunnyside Cook! I might wait to prepare it, when you are on your way to visit our coast!