Dinner du Jour

Salmon with Asian Slaw

by Kelly on July 30, 2010

After a long, hot, relaxing day at the beach, the last thing I wanted to do was turn on the oven, stand over a simmering pot, or even think much about dinner. I also needed to use up at least one of my numerous bulbs of kohlrabi. This simple yet elegant dish was the perfect solution. If you are not familiar with kohlrabi, the slaw is a nice way to try it. I prefer it in salads like this one, raw and thinly sliced. Its crunchiness holds up nicely in the vinaigrette so it can marinate for as long as you need it to without losing texture or taste. If you can’t find kohlrabi or are afraid of its UFO like appearance, celery, jicama, or even green apple could be substituted.

Salmon with Asian Slaw
serves 4

Slaw:
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 kohlrabi, peeled and julienned
1 small head napa cabbage, thinly sliced crosswise to “shred“
3–5 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1 serrano or jalapeno, thinly sliced
2 carrots, shredded
2–3 radishes, diced
1 Kirby (or 1/2 regular) cucumber, diced

Salmon:
1 tablespoon canola or grapeseed oil
4 salmon fillets (about 6 oz each)
salt and pepper, to taste
3–4 cups cooked jasmine rice

Combine the slaw ingredients in a large bowl. Feel free to add more vinegar, sesame oil, tamari, lime, salt, pepper and serrano, to taste. Sometimes I add a half cup of mayonnaise for extra creaminess. Toss the slaw gently and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.

About 15 minutes before serving, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Add the salmon to the hot oil and cook about 8 minutes until nicely browned. Turn the salmon over and continue cooking until cooked through, 3–5 minutes longer depending on the thickness of the fillets.

For each serving, mound rice in the center of a dinner plate. Place a salmon fillet in the center of the rice, then top with the chilled slaw.

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Tagged as: Asian food, Rice, Salads, Seafood

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Vietnamese Chicken and Mint Salad

by Kristin on July 27, 2010

When you’re a freelancer who works to deadlines, taking time off can be a mixed blessing. The time away is great, but I work overtime before I go to clear my desk and then more overtime when I come back to catch up. Kelly put it perfectly when she said it’s like trying to fit 25 hours of living (or working, in this case) into a 24-hour day, which is why we’ve been eating a lot of salads in my house for the past few weeks while I worked to clear my desk in advance of my solo trip back to the States. Salads are the summertime equivalent of wintertime one-pot wonders, but with the added benefit of coming together in no time at all (which also makes them perfect for lazy summer cooks). The flavors in this one are cool and crisp, but it’s still substantial enough for a main course, especially on hot days when you don’t feel like eating much of anything at all. Like the white bean, salami and spinach salad, this is another favorite salad that I make at least once every summer.

Vietnamese Chicken and Mint Salad
from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson

Serves 4 as a main course

A food processor or mandoline slicer makes short work of the chopping and shredding in this recipe. If you don’t want to turn on your oven to roast the chicken, you could poach it instead, or just buy a rotisserie chicken from the store and avoid heating up your kitchen altogether.

4 chicken breasts
olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup (60 ml) freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup (60 ml) nam pla (Thai fish sauce)
1/4 cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
2 onions, finely sliced
1/2 head of white cabbage, shredded
4 to 6 medium carrots, shredded or grated
1 large bunch of mint, roughly chopped, with some set aside to garnish

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly grease a baking tray with olive oil.

Place the chicken breasts on the baking tray. Drizzle the chicken with a little olive oil, then sprinkle both sides liberally with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside to cool, then roughly chop into bite-sized chunks.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the chili, garlic, lime juice, fish sauce, oil, vinegar, sugar, and black pepper to taste. Add the sliced onions to the mixture and set aside for 30 minutes.

In a big plate or bowl, mix the cabbage, carrot, mint and cooked chicken. Pour over the dressing and toss well, making sure everything is combined and covered thinly with dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve on a flat plate with a little mint scattered on top.

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Tagged as: Asian food, Poultry, Salads

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Chorizo, Red Pepper and Feta Frittata

by Kristin on July 23, 2010

We planted potatoes for the first time this year, joking that we were earning our Irish citizenship now. Of all the things we planted, my husband was most excited about the potatoes. The first thing he’d do when he got home from work was make a beeline to the garden to check on them, sometimes barely even stopping to say hello to the kids first. So when the diagnosis came back from our expert gardening friend that the potatoes had blight, he was pretty cut up about it. The good news is that the potatoes are still perfectly edible, but the bad news is they won’t store well. Suffice it to say we’re going to be eating a lot of potatoes over the coming weeks.

Most frittatas, which are like an Italian open-faced omelet, use potatoes, so it was one of the first things I thought of when faced with this sudden glut. Plus they’re perfect summertime food — not too heavy or filling and ideal for picnics, since they’re easy to transport and can be served at room temperature (I actually prefer them this way). It’s also a good way of using up bits and bobs of things that are hanging around in your crisper or pantry, making them open to endless variations.* This one is our new favorite, but I also like making one with baby potatoes and jarred artichoke hearts, or if provisions are very low in the house, I can usually rustle up a classic Spanish tortilla.

A word of warning here: to make a frittata, you need an ovenproof frying pan. No one wants to deal with a melted handle. And be sure to remember that the handle will be hot for quite some time after you take it out of the oven — I’ve burned my hand more times than I care to admit. Nowadays, I always leave an oven mitt or dishtowel wrapped around the handle as soon as I take it out of the oven to remind me to be careful.

Chorizo, Red Pepper and Feta Frittata

Serves 4 to 6 as a light dinner or brunch

For a vegetarian version, simply leave out the chorizo. Try to use potatoes that are roughly the same size so that they all cook in the same amount of time when you parboil them in the first step. Roasting the red peppers heightens their flavor, but if you don’t have them, simply chop them and saute them along with the onions.

1/2 lb (225 g) baby potatoes, unpeeled and left whole
olive oil
5 oz (140 g) chorizo sausage, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 red peppers, roasted, skinned and roughly chopped (or use well-drained jarred roasted peppers)
8 eggs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 oz (140 g) feta cheese, cubed or crumbled
green salad, to serve

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place the potatoes in the pot and boil for about 5 minutes, or until just cooked and fork tender — do not overcook them or they won’t keep their shape when sliced. Drain. When they’re cool enough to handle, slice thinly and set aside.

Heat a splah of olive oil in a large ovenproof, nonstick frying pan over a medium heat. Add in the sliced chorizo and cook for about 5 minutes, until the chorizo has released its oils into the pan and has browned slightly. Scoop the chorzio out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on a paper towel-lined plate. If there’s an excessive amount of oil now in the pan, drain some off until only 1 or 2 tablespoons remain.

Reduce the heat to low, add the onion to the oil left behind in the pan and cook gently for 7 to 10 minutes, until softened. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, then remove from the heat. Add in the chopped roasted red peppers and set aside.

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper (don’t use too much salt, since the chorizo and feta are also quite salty). Stir in the potatoes and chorizo. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the onion and peppers from the pan to the egg mixture and give everything a good stir.

Wipe out the frying pan and add 2 tablespoons of fresh olive oil (you can use less oil if you have a really good nonstick pan). Heat the oil in the pan, then pour in the egg mixture, making sure the chorizo and vegetables are evenly distributed throughout the pan. Top with the feta cheese.

Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 25 to 35 minutes, or until set in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little before sliding it out of the pan onto a large serving platter or cutting board. Serve warm or at room temperature with a green salad on the side.

*Here are a few other frittata variations from around the web:

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Tagged as: Eggs, Italian food, Pork

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Chili Bean Burritos with Corn Salsa

by Kristin on July 20, 2010

I love having visitors, not least because I get to pull out all the stops and feed them well. We had some vegetarian friends over from the US for a long weekend visit last week, so I turned to some of my tried-and-true favorites: polpette di melanzane, ratatouille, lemon and pea risotto, and Moorish crunch salad with naan bread, plus roasted peaches with amaretti and Eton mess for dessert. My friend (the same friend who cracked his fridge shelf last year with a heavy pot of soup) was lamenting the fact that they’re tired of making the same old things from their small cookbook collection, so Adrian, here’s another fast and easy vegetarian recipe for you to add to your repertoire.

Do you have a favorite vegetarian recipe or a good vegetarian cookbook you could suggest for Adrian? Let us know in the comments!

Chili Bean Burritos with Corn Salsa
adapted from Every Day by Bill Granger

Serves 4

When serving this to my small children, I give them a tortilla on the side (because they still like to have what the grown-ups are having) and just put the bean mixture in a bowl with some corn salsa on top, which they can easily spoon up.

for the chili bean burritos:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 x 14 oz (400 g) cans of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 x 14 oz (400 g) can of chopped tomatoes
zest and juice of 1 lime
a small handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
freshly grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, to serve
tortillas, to serve
natural yogurt or sour cream, to serve

for the corn salsa:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups (300 g) corn, either fresh or frozen
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
a small handful of fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
zest and juice of 1 lime
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the bean burritos, heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over a medium-low heat. Add the celery, onion and red pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables have softened. Add the garlic, chili and spices and cook for 1 minute more. Add the kidney beans and tomatoes and stir well. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to very low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the lime zest and juice and the cilantro.

While the bean mixture is cooking, make the salsa. In a separate large pan, heat the oil over a high heat. Add the corn and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes. Tip the corn into a large bowl and stir through the celery, onion, chili, coriander, lime zest and juice. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.

To serve, spoon some bean mixture down the middle of each tortilla, sprinkle with the grated cheese and wrap up firmly. Serve with the corn salsa and a spoonful of yogurt.

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Tagged as: 30-minute meals, Beans, Mexican food, Vegetarian main dishes

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White Bean, Salami and Spinach Salad and Italian Chocolate Fridge Biscuits

by Kristin on July 14, 2010

I’m a little jealous of all the heat waves in America lately. After the best June in years here in Ireland, July is turning out to be cold and rainy a lot of the time and we’re lucky to even hit 70°F. But last month, when we had proper warm weather, I was making salads for dinner almost every night and this is one of my favorites. Served with some crusty bread, it’s a perfect main course for a hot (or even not so hot) summer’s night.

And if you’re being good and eating salad for dinner, it’s as good of an excuse as any to splurge a little with one of these biscuits. If you can rouse yourself from the heat enough to melt some butter on the stovetop, then all you have to do is press the dough into a baking dish and leave it in the fridge overnight, making this ideal for summertime baking. I made them for the Irish foodies’ cookie bake-off* at the start of the month, and while at first I was a little disappointed in them (I’d been expecting more flavor from the coffee and Crunchie bars), they grew on me. They’re a grown-up kind of cookie, the kind of thing that’s perfect with a cup of coffee after dinner (or anytime).

White Bean, Salami and Spinach Salad
adapted from The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater

Serves 2 as a light main course

for the salad:
7 oz (200 g) baby spinach (or about 4 big handfuls)
1/2 lb (225 g) salami, thinly sliced
a handful of basil leaves, cut into ribbons
2 x 14 oz (400 g) cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup (100 g) black olives, halved
freshly grated Parmesan shards, to serve
crusty bread, to serve

for the dressing:
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the spinach into a large serving dish. Cut the salami into thin strips and add to the spinach along with the basil, beans and olives.

To make the dressing, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, thyme and salt and pepper together until thick and creamy (or shake to combine in a screw-top jar). Pour the dressing over the salad and toss everything together gently. Grate over some thick shards of Parmesan cheese and serve with plenty of crusty bread.

***

Italian Chocolate Fridge Biscuits
adapted from Avoca Café Cookbook

Makes one 9 x 13 inch tray

3/4 cup (175 g) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (150 g) cocoa powder
1 cup (200 g) sugar
3/4 cup (75 g) ground almonds
3/4 cup (75 g) ground hazelnuts
1 tablespoon espresso or strong black coffee
1 egg and 1 egg yolk, beaten together
6 oz (175 g) Petit Beurre, high-quality butter cookies or digestive biscuits, roughly chopped
6 oz (175 g) honeycomb, such as Crunchie bars, roughly chopped
1 1/4 cups (175 g) hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Put the butter, cocoa, sugar, ground almonds and ground hazelnuts in a large pot and heat gently, stirring, until the butter has melted. Beat the coffee, egg and egg yolk into the mixture, then stir in the cookies, honeycomb and chopped hazelnuts. It will be very crumbly and rough looking at this stage.

Lightly oil a shallow 9 x 13 inch baking dish and firmly press the mixture into it (the mixture should be about 3/4 inch thick). Leave it to set in the fridge overnight, then turn out and cut into squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

*Looking for more cookie inspiration? Check out all these recipes from some other Irish foodies:

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Tagged as: 30-minute meals, Beans, Cookies, Italian food, Pork, Salads

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Creamy Slow Cooker Stroganoff and Strawberry Bread

by Kelly on July 9, 2010

I’ll make this short for all of you who, like myself, are trying to fit 25 hours of living into a 24-hour day. First, if you don’t have a slow cooker, buy one. Don’t be afraid to leave the house with it on and don’t attempt to make anything fancy in it. The slow cooker can do a lot, but it doesn’t make pretty food. Stephanie O’Dea has a great slow cooker blog and now a companion cookbook, where I found this recipe. It’s the “working mom” version of one of my childhood favorites — my German great-grandmother’s stroganoff. It would be best served on her homemade spaetzle, but good-quality egg noodles are a fine substitute.

The strawberry bread is perfect for using up the last of the great strawberries of the season. It can be made ahead and lasts for several days, covered, at room temperature. It can also be wrapped tightly in wax paper, then plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for a few months. Like banana bread, this strawberry bread is healthy enough to eat for breakfast but tasty enough to eat as dessert.

Creamy Slow Cooker Stroganoff
adapted from Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking by Stephanie O’Dea

Serves 6

2 lb (900 g) beef stew meat
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, diced
8 oz (225 g) mushrooms, quartered or sliced
1/4 cup (60 ml) broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried herbes de Provence or thyme
4 oz (110 g) cream cheese, diced
egg noodles, for serving

Put the meat into the slow cooker (frozen is fine). Add the butter, milk, Worcestershire sauce, onion, mushrooms, broth, salt, pepper, and dried herbs. Cook on low for 10 to 12 hours, or until the meat is tender. Stir in the cream cheese and cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cream cheese is fully incorporated into the sauce. Taste and add more salt or pepper, if necessary. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

***

Strawberry Bread

Makes 2 loaves

1 lb (450 g, or about 4 cups) sliced strawberries
1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
2 1/8 cups (255 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (125 g) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (180 ml) canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup (120 ml) applesauce
4 eggs, beaten lightly
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups (125 g) chopped toasted pecans

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and flour two 5 x 9 inch loaf pans.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and strawberries; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flours, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the strawberry and sugar mixture. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined, then fold in the pecans.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the loaves on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the loaves from the pans and continue cooling on rack. Serve at room temperature.

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Tagged as: Beef, Bread, Fruit, Slow cooker

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Chicken Saag with Cucumber Raita

by Kelly on July 6, 2010

Just when I thought my food rut couldn’t get any deeper (you may have noticed my lack of posts), our CSA, Rare Earth Farm, delivered its first box of the season. How easy it is to forget the ease and joy of cooking after the harsh winter and cool spring of northern climates. But the box brought such an abundance of good, fresh produce I couldn’t help but be excited. Right now strawberries, spinach, and snap peas are making daily appearances at my house. The kids are delighted, though their clothes are suffering from the strawberry stains. And the spinach was so pretty, I had to photograph it even before the cooking began.

If you’re dealing with an overabundance of spinach, this chicken saag recipe is a great way to quickly use up a large quantity of it. The finished dish didn’t look quite as pretty as the bouquets of leaves I started with, but its creamy, delicate sauce more than made up for it.

Chicken Saag
adapted from Indianfoodforever.com

Serves 6

1 1/2 lb (680 g) spinach, stems removed if tough, washed and chopped
7 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 large onions, minced
1 x 14 oz (400 g) can of diced tomatoes, crushed with your fingers
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicy)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cardamom pods
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 lb (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes
basmati rice or naan, for serving

Put the spinach into a deep pan. Add 1/4 cup (60 ml) of water and cover. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. When cool, puree the spinach in a food processor or blender and set aside.

Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or dutch oven. Fry the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet and add the ginger, garlic and onions and saute until lightly brown. Add the tomatoes, salt, cayenne, ground coriander, turmeric, cloves, and cardamom. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of water. Cook for 10 minutes over a low heat. Add the chicken and milk to the skillet and simmer until the chicken is tender and cooked fully, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the spinach puree and garam masala to the skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach starts sticking to the pan, about 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the butter. Keep the skillet covered until ready to serve. Serve with rice or naan.

***

Cucumber Raita

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) plain yogurt
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced small
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper or garam masala

Beat together the yogurt and milk with a whisk until very smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Sprinkle with cayenne or garam masala and chill for up to 2 hours. Serve this as a side dish to any spicy Indian dish.

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Tagged as: Indian food, Poultry

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White Bean and Tuna Salad with Lemon Pepper Dressing

by Kristin on July 2, 2010

When you travel, what do you remember afterward? I remember the food. I have a better memory of eating quiche Lorraine for breakfast on a bench by the Seine in Paris than I do of seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Of course I remember the big-name sightseeing highlights, but I also remember the Nutella and banana crepe we bought from a stand near the Eiffel Tower; a brioche aux praline in Lyons that was so good we changed our return travel plans back to Paris just so we could eat it one more time; chocolate mint gelato in Florence served by a man in what looked like a crisp white lab coat and perfectly Brylcreemed 1950s hair; kriek cherry beer in Amsterdam, glögg in Copenhagen and a harsh, peaty whiskey in Edinburgh that I downed after (foolishly, in my case) taking the ghost tour of the city; conch chowder in the Bahamas; hot chocolate and a gingerbread man with my little girl in London; and a ploughman’s pub lunch in Canterbury. In Barcelona we spent more time eating tapas and drinking sangria than sightseeing. In the US, I still have clear memories of bratwurst being grilled on the Memorial Union Terrace in the summertime in Madison, Wisconsin; whole crabs in Baltimore, complete with a newspaper-covered table and hammers; lobster in Boston with flimsy plastic bibs and pitchers of beer; a post-wedding brunch at the Ritz in Washington, DC with scallops and bacon, caviar and waiters who seemed to top up my glass of mimosa after every sip; sopapilla and honey in Santa Fe; scoops of ice cream in waffle cones so freshly made on the spot in Bellingham, Washington that they were still warm; and a nondescript hot dog somewhere outside of Charlottesville, Virginia that I remember only because I couldn’t understand a single word the man behind the counter said when he rattled off all the toppings because his Southern accent was so thick, so I just said I’d have what my friend was having.

As for this salad, I had it for lunch on a rooftop café in Tuscany on my honeymoon eight years ago, looking out over rolling countryside that was hazy in the middle of the heat wave they were having at the time. Earlier during that trip, walking across the city on our way to stand in line in the hot sun for an hour to see Michelangelo’s David in Florence and wilting just at the thought of it, I turned to my husband and said, “Will seeing David really make us better people? How about we just go back to the garden at the hotel and drink beer and eat olives instead?” Which is exactly what we did.

What are some of your memories of food and travel?

White Bean and Tuna Salad with Lemon Pepper Dressing
adapted from How to Cook Book Two by Delia Smith

Serves 4 as a light main course or 6 as a starter/light lunch

for the salad:
2 x 14 oz (400 g) cans of cannellini beans
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few handfuls of arugula (rocket), stalks removed
2 x 7 oz (200 g) cans of tuna, drained
1 red onion, peeled, sliced thinly and deflamed
crusty bread, to serve

for the dressing:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons Maldon sea salt
1 heaped teaspoon mustard powder, such as Colman’s
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
zest and juice of 1 large lemon (3 tablespoons juice)

To make the dressing, first crush the garlic and salt using a pestle and mortar until the garlic is pulverized into a paste, then work in the mustard powder and pepper. If you have a large pestle and mortar, add the olive oil, lemon zest and juice directly into it and whisk everything together thoroughly. If your pestle and mortar is small (like mine), then scrape the garlic paste into a larger bowl and whisk in the olive oil, lemon zest and juice in that.

Place the beans in a bowl and pour the dressing over, stirring to make sure all the beans are coated. Season generously.

To serve the salad, arrange three-quarters of the arugula (rocket) leaves over the base of one large serving dish (or you could assemble the salad on individual plates), spoon the beans on top and add the tuna fish in chunks. Add the rest of the arugula, pushing some of the leaves and chunks of tuna right in amongst the beans. Arrange the onion slices on top and serve straight away.

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Tagged as: 30-minute meals, Beans, Italian food, Salads, Seafood

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