My older brother is coming for the weekend with his college-age daughter. I’m a lapsed Catholic. He is not. Friday being Good Friday, they may not eat much, but what they do eat needs to be non-meat-bearing.
As a non-fish-lover, my seafood-based repertoire is… limited. I happened to remember a tuna lasagna recipe I made a few times, 20+ years ago (don’t gag - basically it’s a tuna-noodle casserole. No tomatoes or ricotta). Found it, along with notes on what we did to give it a bit more oomph, tastewise. It’ll be my fallback if nothing else presents itself.
Can you do a vegetarian meal, or does it have to be fish based?
Um, yeah, there are only about a thousand vegetarian options. Pasta primavera, spaghetti with marinara sauce, vegetable stir fry or pilaf, risotto, baba ghanouj, spanikopita, veggie pizza . . .
Don’t forget veggie pizza (with lotsa mushrooms!)
FWIW, I make tuna casserole with a basic bechamel sauce, into which I put the tuna, sauteed mushrooms (see a pattern developing here?;)) and freshly-grated parmesan, before stirring it in with the noodles in a casserole dish, topping it with buttered breadcrumbs and baking it. Yum!
It certainly could be vegetarian - not sure how much pure-veg (well, ovo-lacto) they eat though, and I know for sure they’ll eat tuna-noodle casserole. I do have quite a few veggie cookbooks. If nothing else presents itself, I’ve got a good baked ziti-type casserole I can put together.
I would still love to get a good T-N recipe, if not for Friday, then for general usage.
Everybody eats veg at some time. It’s not like we’re pumas and have to have meat in every foodstuff we eat. If they’ve ever eaten a PB&J, a salad, mac & cheese, a cheese pizza, they’ve eaten veg. A vegetarian meal can be just as bounteous and satisfying as one with dead animal in it.
(And no, I’m not a militant veg and I do periodically eat dead animals; I just don’t get the horror some people have over the idea of a meal without animal flesh in it – Oh Noes I’ll Starve!!)
Wish I could help you with the tuna noodle casserole. Mine is pretty blah: noodles, tuna, peas, cream o’chicken soup, herbs, a sprinkle of bread crumbs. Allrecipes.com might give some ideas.
You’re on your own for defining reasonable amounts, but I can tell you what I do . . . this process has converted many a tuna-noodle “hater.”
Open can of diced tomatoes and dump into strainer
Add to strainer whatever odds and ends of veg.s are in the freezer. Add a few more peas.
Boil rotini and dump over vegs (I like Barilla Plus - never gets mushy and more nutritious.)
Grate whatever odds and ends of cheese are in the fridge (these are always mild ones at my house - mozz. parm. colby, cheddar. . .)
in large fry pan Sautee onions and fresh garlic until soft
Add dried basil (crushed in M&P) and cracked pepper, pinch of salt
Put in grated cheese (save a half cup or so) and as much butter and cream as will incorporate.
add veg/noodles and mix.
*add well drained and rinsed can of tuna. Mix gently
pour into large casserole - lasagna pan works too - if it’s thick the middle gets runny.
sprinkle with cheese and pop into oven at 325.
Serve when top browns.
*This works with almost any addition from Thai sausage to canned chicken.
My tuna casserole is like Scarlett67’s. The most important ingredient is the tuna. Some canned tuna is fit only for cats. Use solid white albacore, or mix some solid white with some of the chunk light (it has more juice). Sauteed onions (like in TruCelt’s recipe) make it more special too. Sprinkle some French’s onions on top, and some grated cheese.
I cheat on the sauce with Campbell’s soup (cream of celery) and sour cream and/or Greek yogurt. I also zap some frozen peas until they’re just thawed and add mushrooms. Hadn’t thought about sauteed onions, but they would be good, too. Sometimes I add a bit of dill as well. I don’t have an actual recipe; I guesstimate amounts and add sour cream/yogurt until I like the taste of the sauce. I also grind in quite a bit of pepper.
I don’t usually bake it, but you could top with crush crunchies of your choice: fried onions, crushed potato chips, crushed crackers, croutons, anything else that strikes your fancy, and then bake till bubbly.
Hey! Speak for yourself.
rwaaaar
On the rare occasions that I make tuna casserole or tuna pot pie (which is another option), I use cream of celery soup. I lurrrrrve cream of mushroom, don’t get me wrong, I could eat it straight from the can if I allowed myself, but cream of celery just works better with tuna.
So what do you think about tuna pot pie?
For that matter, there’s all kinds of really interesting fish and shellfish options available these days. I don’t care much for fish or shellfish, but my husband and daughter will frequently grill some fish, or bake it. One of my husband’s favorite dishes is seafood alfredo, for instance. Paella might be good. Or if they are keeping to the idea that Good Friday is a fast day, in that they are not eating for enjoyment, then there’s always frozen fish sticks and store bought cole slaw. 
Quick and easy tuna noodle casserole:
2 Boxes of Kraft Mac and Cheese
2 cans of tuna
Mayonnaise
Can of peas.
Preheat oven to 300[sup]o[/sup]F
Prepare the Mac ‘n’ Cheese according to package directions. Add the tuna (drained, of course. I don’t know why I didn’t specify that in the ingredient list), and the peas (also drained).
Dump it into a baking dish that’s been sprayed with Pam. Stir in enough mayonnaise to give it a creamy consistency. Cover it and put it into the oven until it’s heated through (maybe fifteen or twenty minutes).