My sweetie made a nice tuna salad this week. It’s light. Tuna, olive oil, capers, purple onions, garlic, lemon juice, salt and parsley. I like it a lot, scarfed some down today:
But that’s not my favorite canned tuna sandwich. My favorite is to just add Duke’s mayo to half a can of HEB’s smoked tuna with lemon, salt, peppercorns and oregano.
As for a transfer device, I really prefer Central Market’s (fancy offshoot of HEB) sea salt and chive crackers:
If those aren’t available as a substrate, then toasted whole wheat or Italian bread will do.
Trader Joe’s solid white albacore, pico de gallo (chopped tomatoes, onions and jalapeno with a dash of lemon juice and salt), chopped dill pickle (Claussen), spinach and mayo. Preferrably on sourdough.
Looking at the THREE tuna pages on my local HEB’s website (I searched for “tuna” and got 154 results):
Tuna Creations Lemon Pepper (Starkist)
Tuna Creations Jalapeno (Starkist)
Dill Pickle flavored tuna (HEB)
Tuna Creations Sweet & Spicy (Starkist)
Garlic & Herb tuna (HEB)
Tuna Creations Ranch (Starkist)
Limón Pepper tuna (HEB)
Cajun Style tuna (HEB)
Jalapeno Lime tuna (HEB)
Smoky Ranch flavored tuna (HEB)
Smoky Chipotle tuna (HEB)
Hot Sauce tuna (HEB)
Basil Pesto tuna (HEB)
Cuban-style Citrus & Garlic tuna (HEB)
Thai-style Green Curry tuna (HEB)
Tuna Creations Hot Buffalo Style (Starkist)
Tuna Creations Thai Chili (Starkist)
Tuna Creations Deli Style Tuna Salad (Starkist)
Mango Habanero tuna (HEB)
Tuna Creations Hickory Smoke Flavored (Starkist)
Tuna Creations Honey BBQ (Starkist)
Tuna Creations Bacon Ranch (Starkist)
Sun-dried Tomato & Basil (Bumblebee)
Chipotle tuna (Bumblebee)
Spicy Thai Chili (Bumblebee)
Roasted Garlic & Herb (Bumblebee)
Mediterranean Herbs & Spices (Bumblebee)
Real Wood Smoked tuna salad with lentils (HEB)
Real Wood Smoked tuna salad with quinoa (HEB)
Real Wood Smoked tuna in oil with lemon & oregano (HEB) @scabpicker’s choice
Tuna with Cracked Pepper & Sea Salt (Bumblebee)
This is not including the multiple choices of unenhanced, plain tuna in water, oil, from other countries, in pouches, cans, glass jars. AND there is an in-house sushi bar, too.
Our mothers and grandmothers would not know today’s tuna aisle.
I didn’t have much luck with my several ventures into making tuna salad, but I think the problem was that I was following fancy-pants internet recipes with some weird ingredients, and I’ve since concluded that the best tuna salad should be really simple, containing little more than a good tuna and mayo and some green onions and maybe finely chopped celery.
But for convenience I’ve taken to buying it ready-made whenever I’m at my favourite little deli. They appear to believe in the “simple” principle, too, but in any case it’s very good. It’s sold by weight but a typical little tub will usually run about $7 and change, which is cheap when you consider it will make at least 4 or 5 thick sandwiches.
I have one and only one way of consuming it, and will condone no others; to wit, white bread, well buttered, made with the tuna salad on one slice and the other slathered with mayo. Not even my beloved fresh-baked deli onion buns are acceptable – white bread only. Call it an eccentric quirk, but there’s something about the taste and texture that’s exactly right for tuna. I’ll add a leaf of lettuce or two if I happen to have some, but don’t consider it necessary, but nothing else. Not even thin tomato slices, which I consider de rigueur for many if not most sandwiches, but not for tuna salad.
When I’m on the road in coastal California there are several places that I always stop at to get smoked albacore, which really ups the level of the resulting sandwich.
Katy’s Smokehouse, Trinidad
Giovanni’s Fish Market, Morro Bay
The Tides Fish Market, Bodega Bay
Roundman’s Smokehouse and Butcher Shop, Fort Bragg
Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win.
There are definitely times when only white bread will do. And not some artisanal round, thick-crusted bread like someone’s granny used to make. Maybe not even Pepperidge Farm white bread, but the store brand or whatever is this generation’s Wonder Bread (do they still make that?).
One occasion is a peanut butter sandwich with a brand-new jar of peanut butter. On one slice of white bread, FOLDED OVER. Two whole slices would be too much peanut butter…you’d need a crowbar to pry your mouth open.
And cinnamon toast with butter.
Cinnamon toast is great made with fancy-schmancy bread, too, but the simplicity, even purity of white bread cinnamon toast is in a class (a kindergarten class, most likely) by itself.
Not only do they still make it, I still buy it! In fact it’s a very popular bread at most supermarkets. My only concession to “health” is that I buy the kind with extra fiber. But it’s still an honest white bread, none of your fancy-schmancy mult-grain or whole wheat crap!
For most sandwiches I use onlon buns or some other type of robust bun. But the white stuff is needed for things like:
Tuna salad sandwiches, as already mentioned
For fried egg sandwiches
For breakfast toast with fried eggs and bacon
For grilled cheese sandwiches
Occasionally, toasted and buttered with garlic butter for imitation garlic bread with pasta
I’d probably add peanut butter sandwiches to the list but I haven’t had a peanut butter sandwich in decades. Nothing against it, just not especially a fan.
My upbringing/food history was pretty dismal until I got out on my own and was able to prepare food for myself. I won’t go into that, but suffice it to say, a tuna salad sandwich made how I like them is serious comfort food to me.
I do like them on artisanal bread I make myself. Ciabatta, sourdough, French, all fine. Even occasionally on rye. Toasted bread is ok, but my preference is not toasted.
A 5 ounce can of solid white albacore in water, well drained. Add chopped fresh onion, chopped celery and a good spoonful of sweet pickle relish. (In general, I don’t care for sweet pickles or relish, but it’s an absolute must for my tuna salad sandwiches or potato salad.) Add Best Foods mayonnaise to moisten mixture well. Stack with Butter lettuce leaves on the bottom bread to help corral the tuna mixture.
Makes 2-3 wonderful tuna salad sandwiches. So yum!
Footnote: When I was a kid, my father was in charge of preparing our daily school lunch sacks. Sad affairs, they were. Somewhere along the way, I discovered how nice celery is in tuna salad. So I asked my father to please add some celery when he made my lunchtime tuna sandwich. I got exactly what I asked for: Plain tuna on the bread, no mayo, with 4 celery sticks stacked across the tuna. Really, Dad?
I use Trader Joe’s solid yellowfin tuna packed in olive oil. Add chopped celery and red onion, mayo, and cracked pepper. I like it on either sourdough or rye, but any quality bread will do.
I like @teelabrown’s idea of adding a squeeze of lemon juice. I’ll have to try that next time.
Yeah, it was, true on both counts. As I recall, when I recovered from the surprise, I just rolled my eyes, set the celery aside to eat as an accompaniment, smushed the top slice of bread back in place and gagged my way through the soggy sandwich. Could’ve been worse. (And often was.)
As I recall, when I recovered from the surprise, I just rolled my eyes, set the celery aside to eat as an accompaniment, smushed the top slice of bread back in place and gagged my way through the soggy sandwich. Could’ve been worse. (And often was.)