Mediterranean Tuna and Bean Salad

Lying by omission. This has been the hard life lesson I have been trying to teach my oldest son the last couple of weeks. I think that as adults we do it all the time. Some lies we do to spare other people's feelings, but some lies by omission we do to make our selves feel better or avoid feeling uncomfortable. Instead of lying I have been trying to teach my son ways to be constructive with his criticism. If you don't like something don't lie about it, but don't make the other person feel bad about the situation. It's okay if you don't like dinner, just don't say it was horrible. Instead tell me what you liked about the dish and add a compliment at the end, "I liked the peppers in the meal even though the dish was spicy, it reminds me of that great recipe with peppers you made last week." You don't have to like everything and you shouldn't have to lie about it, just don't tell the truth in a way that hurts someone else. I would rather that someone told me something constructive than tell me that everything that I ever did was wonderful and great, nothing is learned or gained from never having anything negative told to you. It's all about balance in the end, both positive and negative comments help us to be well rounded individuals.

Since it has been hot for the last week in my area I have been trying to make cooler foods for dinner. It doesn't help that my oven broke and it wasn't until today that I finally got a new one. So cold salads have been on the menu in my house a lot lately. Last week I tried a new recipe for Mediterranean Tuna and Bean Salad from the Kroger home mailer. 

Now 99 percent of the time I don't copy recipes outright. The exception I have always made are recipes that are sent in coupon circulars and recipes on packages. I still change the steps to avoid copyright, but I view these recipes as advertisement for the product and company and not in the same category as other printed recipes. So here is the recipe from Kroger: 

• 2 (5 ounce) cans solid white tuna in water, drained
• 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 12 radishes, cleaned, trimmed and chopped
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• 2/3 cup chopped parsley
• 9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and mix. Serve over spinach or salad of your choice. Also great with crackers. 

That's it. I would suggest adding a small amount of fresh dill if you have it. I love fresh dill with tuna it gives it a nice fresh taste and during the summer dill is very easy to grow in a pot or in your garden. My dill is doing great right now and I look forward to many recipes using dill soon. 

Tuna, Cotija and Corn Tacos with Lime and Mango

Tuna, Cotija and Corn Tacos with Lime and Mango

Growing up I told everyone that would listen that I was never having kids. If I did I had already decided that I would adopt and then it would just be one. I grew up an only child, but my mother was the oldest of 12 so at all times one of my aunts, uncles or cousins was either living with us or at our house. It could be a little crazy. Then I met my husband and everything changed. I was overcome with this strange new emotion of wanting kids. Not just any kids, but our kids. It's funny how life can hit you without much warning. What I didn't expect at that time was that I would have two boys. I love my boys tremendously, but having two boys is more work than I ever expected. Right now they are at each others throats everyday, all day. This morning they had a big fight over magnets. While this might sound harmless I have boys so they aren't just verbal fights, they wrestle, shove etc. My oldest starts school next week and I am more than ready to going back to only having one child during the day. I think that I needed a better manual before having all boys, my house can be complete chaos. One of the few things that my two boys can agree on is seafood, they both love it. Today I tried a new recipe for Tuna, Cotija and Corn Tacos with Lime and Mango from the May 2013 issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

Cabell County Courthouse Huntington, WV

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 12 tacos. I did make a few significant changes to the original recipe. First, the original recipe is vegetarian. With three males in my house they just wouldn't have gotten full with just corn and cheese. Therefore I used frozen tuna steaks, which I grilled and then sliced. Then I added the tuna to the tacos along with the rest of the recipe ingredients. I cooked my tortillas in a pan on my gas stove until they had grill marks. My cilantro went bad before I was able to make the recipe so I left it out.

Ritter Park Huntington, WV

The fresh corn in this recipe was delicious. Without the tuna this dish would not have much protein. The addition of the tuna made the recipe for my family. Tuna steaks really are a great source of protein and they have great flavor in tacos. My boys were huge fans of the fresh mango, they ate a whole mango by themselves. If you aren't a fan of tuna, Mahi Mahi would work as well.

The two photos (not of food) in this post are of the town that I live in Huntington, WV. There are a number of large parks which my kids love spending time walking and playing in. 

For the recipe go to Cotija and Corn Tacos with Lime and Mango.

Cotija and Corn Tacos

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A simple recipe for tacos using fresh corn and cotija cheese.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 0h, 25m

Yield: 12 Tacos

Spaghetti with Spicy Tuna Marinara Sauce

Growing up I loved tuna melts. I thought they were one of the best foods on earth. To me there was nothing better than my mom's homemade tuna melts. As you can imagine we had a lot of canned tuna growing-up. Both of my parents worked very hard, but living in an expensive city and only having a high-school diploma made money very tight. Luckily for my mom I loved inexpensive food and my mother was a great cook. She could take something from a can and make into something spectacular. It was these early food experiences that made me into the cook that I am today. I learned quickly that just because you have only a handful of ingredients doesn't mean that you can't make something fantastic. My two kids have grown-up in very different circumstances. Both my husband and I have masters degrees and fresh food has always been in abundance. However, I am still my mother's daughter and I am frugal to the core. I love making complex expensive meals, but I leave them to the holidays and special occasions. My kids are growing up understanding that just because you can spend a lot of money on something doesn't mean you should. The same goes for the food we eat and serve. I love cooking from scratch, but I also understand and appreciate that canned food can be both convenient and nutritious when used correctly. Recently, the May issue of the Food Network Magazine had a recipe for Spaghetti with Spicy Tuna Marinara Sauce, which looked like a simple combination of fresh ingredients paired with canned tuna.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did have to make a  recipe modification due to a lack of available ingredients. Finding plum tomatoes around here can be hit or miss so I bought roma tomatoes instead. I had no problems finding any of the other ingredients at my local grocery store. After the pasta was added to the sauce I felt that it needed to be cooked down more than the recipe suggested. I allowed the pasta sauce to cook until the sauce completely coated the pasta. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys loved this recipe. I was pleased with how the tuna didn't end up tasting fishy even though it came from a can. The leftovers heated up great the next day and the flavor was even better. I appreciated that the recipe only took thirty minutes start to finish. Plus, with the main meat being canned tuna the total price for the recipe was very low, which always helps my family budget. Overall, a very easy pasta recipe combining both fresh and canned ingredients.

For the recipe go to Spaghetti with Spicy Tuna Marinara Sauce.