Why This Works Without Smell
Okay okay okay, this seems like a random colection of tuna, vegetables and rice put together and called a salad, but this is just something me and my family keep coming back to, as it is delicious (even if you can't smell), healthy and endlessly adaptable.
My dad used to make it far better than me and called it TFS (Tuna Fish Salad) and when I was young, we ate it relatively frequently in the summer. Now, we simply call it 'big salad,' because my wife is always concerned I've made too much (I never have).
I have no idea where my dad got the idea, but he brought his French sensibilities to it with a real vinaigrette, which is what elevates the whole thing from the aforementioned random collection of tuna, vegetables and rice to something exciting and enjoyable to eat. Sharp, sweet, salty, sour, fresh, chewy and crunchy all on one plate.
Eat with crusty bread.
Ingredients
Salad
- 150g basmati rice, cooked, drained and cooled
- 3 eggs, hardboiled and quartered
- 1 soft round lettuce, washed
- 1/2 cucumber, sliced
- Cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 10 dried black olices, halved
- 2 cans tuna in oil, drained and flaked
- Parsley, finely chopped
- 1 avocado (optional), cubed
- 5 french radishes (optional), halved
- 2 hearts of palm (optional), sliced
Vinaigrette
- 2 tbsp good quality red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp walnut oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- Sea salt, pepper
Method
1. Arrange the salad
On a large serving plate or salad bowl, make a nest of lettuce leaves by arranging them in a circle.
Pile the cold rice in the middle of the nest.
Put the grated carrot on top of the rice.
Pile the flaked tuna on top of the carrot.
Sprinkle the sliced spring onions ver the top of the tuna.
Scatter the rest of the salad ingredients except the parsley artfully on the lettuce leaves, in a circle around the pile of rice, carrot and tuna.
2. Make the vinaigrette
Put the vinegar then the olive oil in a bowl and whisk until mixed thoroughly. Slowly add the walnut oil, then the honey and the mustard. Season to taste.
3. Dress the salad and serve
Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad. I tend to put most of it on the pile of tuna and rice.
Scatter the finely chopped parsley over teh whole plate.
Tips
Presentation This is a big plate of salad vegetables with some rice and tuna, but it can look very impressive if you arrange things nicely. I favour concentric rings of colourful ingredients, building to a mountain of tuna.
Vinaigrette This can be adjusted to taste. I like my vinaigrette to be sharp and sour, but taste while you whisk it together and vary the ingredients depending on your preferences.