Cooking with Chef Jo: Tuna Macaroni Salad

Welcome to my second installment of "It's Too to Cook!"  On the menu today is  my mother's version of Tuna Macaroni Salad has been a staple during summer months for as long as I can remember and that's more than half a century. It's my favorite go-to menu item when it's too hot to be in the kitchen.

It can be a side dish with standard picnic fare, or add an extra can of tuna and eat it as a meal. I've tweaked the family recipe over the years and made it my own depending on what was growing in the garden. Her recipe called for drained can green peas. Y'all know how I feel about waterlogged vegetables. In a pinch, I'll rinse water over frozen, but otherwise, I use fresh.

At home I kept things simple and at the restaurant catered picnics I offered a deconstructed, high-end version of the same basic salad.

Tuna Macaroni Salad
 Serves 6 as a side dish and 4 as a meal
What you'll need
1 lb of macaroni or other formed pasta, cooked, drained and not rinsed*
6-7 oz tuna canned oil, drain and reserve the oil
1/2 cup carrots, scrubbed well and cut into match stick sized pieces
1/2 cup green peas*
1/2 cup red onion, 1/8" dice
2 stalks of celery, 1/8" dice
2 sweet or hot* banana peppers, seeded and sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered if large
1/2 cup fresh herbs (parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary), chopped
1-1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice*
Salt and pepper to taste, or favorite seasoning salt
Paprika to decorate

Notes*-

1. Do not rinse the pasta. Save your hot water.You want the starch on it to help the dressing to stick to the pasta. I cook my in the early morning or night before when it's cooler. Place in plastic bag and refrigerator until time to put it together.
2. Green peas- I use fresh peas. I'll add them to the pasta water after I've strained the pasta. No sense in heating up the kitchen just blanch the peas. The peas will brighten and partial cook while the water cools to room temperature. Strain the peas and place in refrigerator.
3. Sweet or hot banana peppers- the choice is yours.
4. Lemon juice should always be freshly squeezed for optimum taste and in cutting the fat of mayonnaise.

 How to put together

•  Whisk mayonnaise and lemon juice, add the herbs, salt, pepper, or seasoning salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, place chilled pasta, tuna, vegetables, and mayonnaise mixture.
• Toss well to coat all ingredients.
• If the salad appears dry at this point it's going be seriously at service because the pasta will absorb it. Drizzle in the reserved oil from the tuna.
• Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 8 hours before serving.

Serving Suggestions
As a meal, serve onto a bed of baby red and green lettuces. Take 1/4 of a 3.5 oz can of tuna in water and break it apart attractively on top of the pasta. Sprinkle with paprika. Decorate the plate with sliced heirloom tomato, hard boiled egg slices, and cucumber slices. Drizzle these with a  extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Instead of canned tuna, add chunks of sashimi grade, seared tuna chunks. These will be rare for the ultimate buttery, sweet flavor without an overly fishy smell. Or, even substitute seared salmon replacing the tuna.

Enjoy!

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo