This is not the first time we've cooked out of this book, and the results are tasty, but the book itself is weird. There's no authorship information, just the publisher. It wants you to rinse your capers. And the ingredient list asks for "1 anchovy fillet, [...] boned", while the recipe notes urge you to get "the best anchovies available [...] meaty and plump", which carries the worrying implication that they want you to buy whole anchovies, and then fillet and bone them using, I guess, a magnifying lens and a tiny little filleting knife.

All that said, there's no arguing with the results. This isn't substantial enough to be a meal in itself but it makes a tasty side dish and isn't too hard to put together.

Peppers Stuffed with Tuna

The Complete Italian Cookbook [2021] (p. 16)

Ingredients

• 450g miniature bell peppers
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 tbsp capers, drained
• 1 (170g wet mass) tin of tuna, in water, drained
• 1 tsp mustard
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2-4 tsp lemon juice, to taste
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 whole anchovy, in oil, minced
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• pepper to taste

Directions

1. Arrange the whole peppers on a baking sheet.
2. Roast at 425°F until soft and lightly charred, turning every 5 minutes, ~15-20 minutes. Larger peppers may need longer.
3. Let cool.
4. Meanwhile, use a mortar and pestle to grind the garlic and capers into a paste.
5. Combine tuna, garlic-caper paste, mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, parsley, anchovy, and vinegar in a bowl. Mix to combine and season with pepper to taste.
6. Once the peppers have cooled, slice off the stems and remove and discard the cores and seeds.
7. Fill the hollow peppers with tuna mixture and serve at room temperature.

This was pretty tasty and also pretty easy to make. Not an all-time favourite, but I'd make it again next time we have cabbage to destroy. It requires a bunch of ingredients, but apart from the cabbage they're all things we have on hand reliably, and half of them are just combined to make the sauce so it's not as complicated as it looks.

Tuna Cabbage Rice Bowl

Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp gochujang
• 2 tbsp gochugaru
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp sugar
• 800g green cabbage, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 4 green onions, sliced, whites and greens divided
• 1 tbsp oil
• 300g tinned tuna, drained
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• black pepper
• 2 C cooked rice
• 4-6 soft-boiled eggs
• toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Whisk together the gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, mirin, oyster sauce, garlic, and sugar to form the sauce; set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add the green onion whites and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
4. Add the cabbage and onion and stir-fry until the cabbage softens, 3-5 minutes.
5. Add the tinned tuna and continue stir-frying for another 3 minutes.
6. Remove from heat. Add the sesame oil and black pepper to taste.
7. Serve over rice, garnished with the eggs, sesame seeds, and green onion greens.

This is a very quick and easy pasta dish that uses ingredients we almost always have on hand. The only exception is the oil-packed tuna, since we usually get water-packed; if all you have is water-packed I suspect you could make it work with that + another 2-3 tbsp of olive oil. The recipe relies on partially cooking the pasta ahead of time, then finishing it off in the liquid that gets absorbed to thicken and form the sauce.

The original recipe uses a single tin of tuna. We wanted it extra tuna-y and thus added a second.

Spaghetti with Tuna and Capers

Cook's Country, Feb/Mar 2021, by Bryan Roof (p. 16)

Ingredients

• 450g dried spaghetti
• 80mL (⅓ C) olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 30mL (2 tbsp) capers
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 140-200g tin of flaked tuna in oil, not drained
• 1 140-200g tin of flaked tuna in water, drained
• 120mL (½ C) freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
• 60mL (¼ C) freshly chopped parsley

Directions

1. Bring 3L of water to boil in a large pot.
2. Add pasta and cook until flexible but still hard in the center, ~5 minutes for most spaghettis.
3. Drain, reserving 3C of pasta water, and set aside.
4. Return the now-empty pot to medium-low heat. Add oil and garlic and cook until not quite browned, 2-3 minutes.
5. Add capers and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, 30-60 seconds.
6. Add 2C reserved pasta water and the pasta. Cook, stirring constantly, until pasta is cooked al dente and water is nearly absorbed, ~5 minutes.
7. Stir in both tins of tuna (including oil), parmesan, parsley, and another ½C of pasta water.
8. Serve topped with additional parmesan and red pepper flakes to taste.

I am on a bit of a ramen kick right now. More specifically, I'm on a ramyun kick. Ramyun is Korean ramen. The noodles tend to be a little thicker and chewier than the noodles you get in ramen packets from other regions.

TF and I went to the Asian grocery store a couple days ago and got a few packages of Korean fire ramyun. They are... very spicy. But there are some great recipes out there that offer ideas on how to dress them up and make them a little more interesting than standard ramen and, as an added benefit, many of these preparations also help to moderate the spiciness somewhat.

We tried out the creamy fire noodles earlier this week. With all the extra stuff added (and with only half the fire sauce), they were only just barely spicy. I think next time I'd actually add the full amount of fire sauce to them.

Today we tried tuna-mayo fire noodles. These ones (unsurprisingly) came out A LOT spicier than the creamy noodles! The tuna and mayo definitely helped to tone things down a bit. Eating them no longer felt like part of some sort of extreme elimination challenge. But they were still very hot. (Possibly I shouldn't have used the full amount of fire sauce here either, but I didn't want to miss out on any of the delicious flavour!)

If you're like me and enjoy the flavour of the sauce but find the heat a bit intense, you could always try adding more veggies to help tone things down a bit. Or try adding a bit of cheese. Turn it into a bowl of tuna melt ramyun. On the other hand, if you like to turn up the heat on your food, this recipe will probably be right up your alley as is!

Tuna-Mayo Fire Noodles

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1/2 tin tuna
• 2 Tbsp. mayo
• 1 small green onion, chopped
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 onion, minced
• 5-6 slices cucumber, julienned
• other vegetables¹ (optional)
• 1 package Korean fire noodles

Directions

1. Drain the tuna and combine it wiht the mayo, green onion, garlic, and onion and set aside.
2. Prepare the cucumber and whatever other veggies you plan to use.
3. Cook the noodles according to package directions² and then drain most (but not all) of the water. Leave ~1/4 c. of water on the noodles.
4. Mix the fire sauce into the noodles.
5. Top the saucy noodles with the tuna salad and prepared veggies.
6. Garnish with flakes (from the noodle package).

---

¹ I think julienned/shredded nappa cabbage would work well. Shredded carrot might also be good. Corn could also be nice, but I think I'd want to use either corn OR cabbage, not both. ^Back
2 The package says to cook the noodles for 3 1/2 minutes, but we like our noodles more al dente than that, so we only cooked them for ~2 minutes. ^Back

This originated as "Pasta Salad with Tuna and Olives" in Edmonds, and is, apart from the pasta itself, served completely uncooked. I wanted something a bit more, well, warm and cooked for dinner, so I made some changes to the preparation, as well as scaling it up to use up a standard 375g box of pasta.

Tuna & Olive Pasta Not-Salad

Heavily adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book, 69th edition, p.169

Ingredients

• 375g dried pasta; whole wheat rotini works well
• 60mL olive oil
• 1½ red onions, thinly sliced
• 5 sticks celery, finely sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1½ red or yellow bell pipers, seeded and diced
• 2 tins tuna in water, drained
• ⅓C black olive slices
• 2 tomatoes, cored and diced
• 15mL yellow mustard
• 30mL wine vinegar
• salt and pepper
• parsley
  

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, celery, and garlic. Cook until the onion just starts to turn translucent.
3. Add the bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened slightly and the taste of the onions has mellowed.
4. Stir in the tomatoes, tuna, olives, mustard, and vinegar. Reduce heat to low and let them heat through.
5. Meanwhile, cook the pasta al dente in salted water.
6. Toss the pasta with the vegetable/tuna mix. Serve with parmesan.

Somewhere between okonomiyaki and an unfolded omelette, this pancake consists largely of beaten eggs and cabbage with a few other things thrown in for colour and flavour.

Aaron's version involves adding a bit of bacon to the batter and then serving the finished pancaked topped with teriyaki sauce, bonito flakes, and mayo. I didn't have any teriyaki sauce on hand and didn't feel like making it. I also didn't have any bonito flakes. Or bacon. I ended up replacing the bacon with tinned tuna, omitting the bonito flakes, and using hoisin in place of the teriyaki. Quite a few changes from the original recipe for sure, but it still came out delicious! Great for a cheap, easy meal or midnight snack. I served it with egg rice balls, but you could have it on its own in a pinch.

Cabbage Pancake

Adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 70-80g shredded/julienned cabbage
• 20-30g drained canned tuna
• 1 large green onion, sliced on bias
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. oil
• teriyaki or hoisin sauce, to serve
• bonito flakes, to serve (optional)
• mayo, to serve

Directions

1. Combine cabbage, tuna, green onion, salt, pepper, and eggs in a bowl and mix well.
2. Heat oil over medium-low heat.
3. Pour cabbage mixture into pan and cook until underside is golden and pancake holds together reasonably well.
4. Flip and cook until other side is golden and pancake is cooked through.
5. Top with teriyaki or hoisin sauce.
6. Top with bonito flakes (if using).
7. Drizzle with mayo.

Korean-Style Tuna-Mayo Rice Balls (Jumeok-Bap)

I made beef rice balls for dinner last night (write-up coming soon). We still had a few left over for dinner tonight, but not enough for a meal. I decided, now that we actually have mayo again, I'd try my hand at these tuna-mayo rice balls. They were delicious!

You can't really get much filling in each one, but I solved that by serving some extra tuna salad on the side. And they weren't as difficult to make as I'd feared. I mean, to be sure, mine weren't perfectly shaped and a few of them did fall apart. But overall, I feel it went pretty well! Especially as a first attempt at it. And the oyster sauce "glaze" really added a nice extra touch. I would definitely make these again.

Korean-Style Tuna-Mayo Rice Balls

From the Aaron & Claire YouTube channel

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. short- or medium-grain white rice (like Calrose or anything labelled "sushi" rice)
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 tsp. seasoned rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 (170g) tin tuna, drained
• 1 tsp. dehydrated minced onion
• 15-20 grinds black pepper
• 1/4 c. mayo
• 1/2 tsp. prepared wasabi
• 1 tsp. light soy sauce¹
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• a bit (~1 Tbsp.) extra sesame oil (for frying)

Directions

1. Add rice and water to InstantPot, seal, and cook on high pressure for 4-5 minutes (depending on rice variety).
2. Allow a 10-minute natural release, then open the valve and release the remaining pressure.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the tuna: Combine tuna, onion, pepper, mayo, wasabi, and soy sauce and mix well. Set aside until rice is done.
4. Fluff rice and stir in seasoned rice vinegar and sesame oil.
5. Combine corn syrup and oyster sauce and mix well. Set aside.
6. Pour 1-2 tsp. of sesame oil into a pan and heat it over low heat.
7. With wet hands, grab a good-sized handfull of rice (~1/4 c.) and squeeze into a ball.
8. Press your thumb into the centre of the ball to make a large divot and create more of a bowl shape.
9. Place a small amount of tuna (no more than 1-1 1/2 tsp.) into the divot/bowl.
10. Gently work the sides of the bowl up and over the tuna to completely cover it and seal it in.
11. Squeeze the ball again to get everything sealed.
12. Carefully compress it vertically and, using your fingers and thunb as guides form it into a slightly flattened triangle.
13. Brush the top (flat triangular face) with the oyster sauce mixture.
14. Place sauced side down into the preheated pan. Brush the other side (which is now facing up) with more of the oyster sauce mixture. Let it cook while you form the next rice ball.
15. By the time the next rice ball is ready to go in the pan, the first one should be ready to flip. Flip it, add the other rice ball to the pan (make sure both top and bottom get brushed with sauce as before), and let them both cook while you make the next rice ball.
16. By the time the third rice ball is ready to go in the pan, the first one should be ready to come out and the second one should be ready to flip. Remove the first rice ball, flip the second one, and add the third one to the pan, brushing it with sauce on both sides as with the other two.
17. Repeat this procedure until all the rice has been used up. (You will have some tuna left over.)
18. Finish cooking the last couple of rice balls.
19. Serve as is or with condiments of your choosing.

---

¹ We were all out of light soy sauce, so I used a 1:1 mix of dark soy sauce and fish sauce instead. This seemed to work reasonably well as a light soy substitute. ^Back

This breakfast dish comes from one of Aaron & Claire's youtube videos. It's a bit involved, although you can speed things up by preparing the sauce the previous night and leaving it in the fridge. We had two bowls worth of rice and lettuce, and it turns out this produces quite a lot of tuna topping, especially with the addition of the frozen vegetables; it made two very hearty breakfast bowls with some tuna left over. I think four bowls would be a natural amount for this recipe, and you can always make less and fridge the remaining tuna for the next morning.

I don't think I would want to put in the time to make this every morning, but it was very tasty and very filling, so I'd definitely make it again sometime.

Gochujang Tuna Rice Breakfast Bowl

Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Korean chili flakes (substitute chili powder 1:1 if needed)
• 1 tbsp gochujang
• ½ tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• ½ tbsp sesame oil, plus extra for serving
  
• ½ tbsp chili oil
• 2 tbsp corn oil
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 2+2 green onions, chopped, divided
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 1 fresh red Thai chili, minced
  
• 2 tins (170g wet/120g dry) tuna
• ¼ C frozen peas (optional)
  
• ¼ C frozen corn (optional)
  
• rice (already cooked)
• shredded vegetables to taste (carrot, lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, etc)
• 4 eggs
• sesame seeds for garnish
  

Directions

1. Whisk together chili flakes, gochujang, oyster sauce, corn syrup, sesame oil, and chili oil to form the sauce.
2. Heat the corn oil over medium heat.
3. Add the garlic and two of the green onions and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
4. Add the onion and chili and cook, stirring often, until translucent.
5. Add the tuna, sauce, peas, and corn, and mix well.
   
6. Meanwhile, prepare four bowls by putting the rice in them, warming it up, and topping with the shredded vegetables.
7. When the tuna is warmed through, top the rice-vegetable mix with the tuna.
8. Quickly fry the eggs (or cook them alongside the tuna, if your pan is large enough) and place atop the tuna.
9. Garnish with sesame seeds, the remaining green onions, and a drizzle of sesame oil.
   

Veggie Sandwiches & Protein Salad Plate

I'm sick and I'm tired, but between the two of us TF and I actually managed to throw together a reasonably healthy, quick, and easy dinner this evening. The sandwich recipe came from... somewhere on the web... PopSugar maybe? And the salad is basically a copycat of my lunch at the Boathouse last week.

Veggie Sandwich
2 slices bread (I used a nice sprouted whole grain, but use whatever you enjoy)
2 Tbsp. hummus (I'd use a bit more next time)
2-3 slices of tomato
9-10 slices cucumber
~1/2 a carrot, grated
~1/4 of an avocado, sliced
alfalfa sprouts (if you have them; we didn't so we went without)

1. Toast your bread.
2. Spread 1 Tbsp. (or more) of hummus on each slice of toast.
3. Pile on the veg and close the sandwich.

Next time I might try adding a Tbsp. or so of tzatziki if I have any on hand. A little bit of cheese might also be nice. This is one situation in which I might make a case for a nice thin slice of "American" cheese or mild-medium Cheddar.

Another interesting variation might be swapping out the tomato for thinly sliced apple or pear and adding a bit of blue cheese. I'm thinking a nice Honey Crisp apple or Anjou pear would work well here.

Protein Salad Plate
2 handfuls mixed greens
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
1 radish, sliced thin
6-8 slices cucumber
1/2 carrot, grated (optional)
2-4 Tbsp. vinaigrette (to taste)
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1 tin tuna, drained
1-2 Tbsp. mayonaise
5-10 grinds black pepper

1. Combine all the veg, add the dressing, and toss.
2. Stir mayo and pepper into tuna
3. Place sliced eggs and tuna on top of salad and serve.

Tuna Salad Sandwiches (with Eggs, Radishes, and Capers)

Yet another Cook's Country pick. I modified the recipe slightly, and I would make a few more tweaks next time. Nice change from your bog standard tuna salad for lunch or a light dinner though.

Tuna Salad Sandwiches
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2015
1 onion, minced
6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 cans low-sodium solid white albacore tuna in water
2 ribs celery, minced
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 radishes, halved and sliced thin
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced thin
1/4 c. capers, rinsed and minced
4 slices bread, toasted

1. Combine onion and 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.
2. Drain tuna well and pat dry. Break up with a fork.
3. Combine tuna and all remaining ingredients with softened onion. Adjust seasoning to taste.
4. Assemble your sandwiches! Serve with a nice salad on the side and enjoy!

Zuni's Pasta with Tuna

So, in my Internet wanderings, I managed to stumble across another fantastic find from Food52: Zuni's Pasta with Preserved Tuna. Now, it calls for preserved lemon, which I can't seem to find around here for love or money. I would like to try my hand at making them sometime, but I wasn't feeling quite that ambitious this past week. Maybe over the holidays I can try to pickle me some lemons. In the meantime, I just used some fresh lemon zest and left out the preserved lemon for now.

Although my pasta was shells, not penne, the dish was still phenomenal. I topped mine with some grated Parmesan and a few extra capers. The next time I went to make this, I was a bit short on both tuna and capers so I tossed in a few anchovy fillets. I was hoping that this would compensate for the missing fish as well as adding back in a bit of the salt that would've come from the capers. It seemed to work pretty well!

I'll definitely be keeping this recipe as something tasty to throw together on a weeknight.

Pasta with Lemon and Tuna
1 lb. dry pasta
1/2 c. olive oil
1 Tbsp. lemon zest, minced
1-2 bay leaves
3/4 tsp. chile flakes
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. fennel seeds
1/4 c. pine nuts
2 Tbsp. capers (I left mine whole)
3 tins tuna OR 2 tins tuna + 6-8 anchovy fillets