The last few years, I have become complacent about my tuna salad. If no eggs were boiled, I would just put in a dollop of Miracle Whip and stir it up and spread it on bread. I was happy. I was fed.
When I married, a small can of tuna would give us both a sandwich for two days. That is four sandwiches from one small can. Now, I just eat the tuna, MW mixture with a bit of relish for one sandwich. I use crusts from the last bite or two to sop up the last of the mixture from the bowl.
I am quite sure this is not anything spectacular, so you may eat/use the same
recipe.
My Original Tuna Salad
(what I originally put in it, not original to me)
1 small can of tuna, Starkist only, drained
1 large stalk celery, chopped small
some yellow onion, not much, minced finely
Miracle Whip, egg-sized dollop or more
4 sweet gherkin midgets, diced and 1/2 tsp juice
4 hamburger dill slices, diced and 1/2 tsp of juice
grated Red Delicious Apple, peeled
3 boiled eggs, diced
My mother made our tuna salad like this, but maybe without the onion, not sure. There were five of us kids, four older, so this fed us. She put the whole apple in for us. I may have used half an apple. I was probably trying to economize since we had little money when we married.
I do believe tuna cans held 6 ounces back then. That seems to be the first product I remember that reduced the ounces but retained the price.
When I injured my hand in the 90s, I started buying Vlasic Dill and Vlasic Sweet Relish so I would not have to dice pickles. The celery was easier to dice. I became busier, stressed for time and eventually left off things, like the eggs somedays. Other days, the onions went away or the apple.
One thing I have added in the last few years when I did not use all I did in the past was carrots. I use the shredded carrots, hold them and slice them into tiny pieces. I love them in the tuna salad. However, I won't be adding them to the next tuna salad I make. The carrots cannot be tasted, but I get the nutrition.
I have continued my halfway making of tuna salad. But, I have everything, celery and the eggs are boiled. Well, the only thing I might not have on hand would be celery. So, one day I will make my tuna salad and now have celery. Tommy refuses to eat it and is debating right now if he will eat some this time. Okay, he said he will try it. This will be the first time ever. Okay, he figured out I will put eggs in it, so he will not eat it. Maybe I can give him some before I put eggs in the bowl. He is fine with that.
The only thing that will be different is I will not buy dills or gherkins, just use the relishes we always have on hand. I think these onions were rotting when I bought them, so hopefully there will be enough for this tuna salad. There is nothing original or astounding in my tuna salad. My kids loved it, so do I. Mama sometimes sent a tuna salad sandwich for school lunches when I was in school.
Wednesday, I took a little nap. I got the chicken in the oven 5.8 pounds of bscb. However, we ate the last of the bscb I baked last week along with squash leftover from last night and a can of green beans. This was a new brand of green beans.
When I opened the can of green beans, there were three stems showing. As I ate my portion, I found two more and a stem about the diameter of a pencil in my mouth. ugh! And, the green beans were from 1/4 in long to 3/4 inch long. They were hard to get on a fork. But, they were delicious, thankfully.
Thursday night, I only slept three hours and am not happy about the lack of sleep. I still feel well, but am totally uninspired to do anything. Of course, I must.
I did order and receive a digital watercolor from a vendor/artist in Ukraine. I was disappointed I only received a canned response. It is hard to gauge if the person really received the small amount. I need to order more.
The predicted storms all faded away before reaching us. We had a fast, hard, and short rain yesterday afternoon. But, there was no wind, thankfully. It was worse east of us.
Ugh! I am tired, really tired. How is your day so far? Are you accomplishing anything?
Thanks for the recipe you use for tuna salad! I have never tried with apple. I also like to toast my bread for sandwiches. Sometimes I make chicken salad with pineapple and walnuts. Funny that Tommy does not like eggs.
ReplyDeleteI am going to try to get somethings done. I made myself get up, trying to get back to some normal type of sleep schedule. Glad you feel better!
Texas,
DeleteI have never heard of pineapple in tuna. I like the softness of the bread, but could eat toasted bread for the sandwich. He is adamant about not eating eggs. He did eat some at church breakfast once when he needed protein because they served only pancakes, some sort of religious thing, not sure about that.
I have never heard of apple in tuna salad. Different.
ReplyDeleteI do use egg in mine sometimes and sweet relish.
Cheryl,
DeleteFunny that I grew up eating grated egg in mine. I thought everybody made it this way.
I meant chopped egg, not grated.
DeleteNever heard of apple in tuna salad but I bet it made the tuna stretch.
ReplyDeleteKim,
DeleteOh it does and is quite tasty. I am not sure that is why Mama added grated apple.
thanks for sharing your recipe. I usually just add mayo and relish to my tuna for sandwiches. One day years ago I got tired of cutting up pickles, LOL, and just started buying relish and it works great. For egg salad sandwiches I just have always added mayo. I never thought about combining the tuna and hard boiled eggs! Your recipe sounds good, especially with the apples in it, too. I think I would like it using canned chicken, instead of tuna, too.
ReplyDeleteOne,
DeleteI think that canned chicken would work just fine! I add more than mayo to egg salad, too. Reading the responses, I am sort of shocked that people don't add eggs, but that is okay. I could not hold the pickles is why I switched to relish. Pickles are better, trust me.
I think tuna used to be 7 ounces. Big difference.
ReplyDeleteLana,
DeleteOh, that is a big difference. No wonder we could make so many sandwiches!
I haven't accomplished anything today. I need to go to the dentist later, it's just a check up but I'm dreading it.
ReplyDeleteI have only made tuna salad a couple of times, it just wasn't a thing I thought about. Talking about sandwiches with mayo, I recently had a chicken salad sandwich with almonds in. They were a brilliant addition, lovely crunch!
kylie,
DeleteI dread going to the dentist for anything. Hopefully, it won't be too bad.
Tuna is a mainstay around here. I even use it like salmon in salmon croquettes. I like chicken salad, too.
When I make tuna or chicken salad, I use two separate bowls. My husband won't eat one iota of celery and I like lots,and he likes it made with mayonnaise only. I like either straight Miracle whip or MW mixed with a little mayonnaise. For both bowls I use tuna, sweet pickle relish, and a little chopped onion. I have never used chopped apple in tuna salad,but used to put chopped egg in quite often if I had eggs on hand.
ReplyDeleteI make chicken salad pretty much the same way, but I love to add dried cranberries to my bowl. I think I will try chopped apple next time. The last time I bought an apple specifically for my chicken salad, and by the time I ended up making the salad,my apple had hidden itself somewhere in the wilds of my refrigerator and I didn't have patience to look for it any longer, so I didn't get to try chopped apple in it.
A friend of mine made lunch for us one time and she served chicken salad on a great big store bakery croissant. I thought it looked really fancy and it tasted great. I know a big fresh croissant would be excellent with tuna salad on it,too.
I forgot to mention how good fresh harvested lemon thyme (not plain thyme) is in chicken or tuna salad. You just rinse the fresh lemon thyme really clean and let the water absorb in a paper towel a short while, and then pull the stem with the tiny lemony leaves between your fingers and let the leaves go into the bowl of chicken or tuna salad. I like as many lemon thyme leave as I have patience to skin off of the stem in my salad. My husband likes it in both salads, too.
You have made me hungry for a fresh crisp apple now.
susie,
DeleteWell, that is a pain to use two bowls, but I have done that for Tommy. I grate the apple and it almost disappears. When I can dehydrate cranberries, I might put them in chicken salad. I hate Craisins. I don't want sugar on my cranberries.
A croissant would be great with any kind of chicken or tuna salad! Or, by itself.
I will have to try the lemon thyme. Thanks for the lesson on how to use it. I keep apples all the time, but I lost my last one in the refrigerator...lol.
What an interesting discussion!
ReplyDeleteI never knew so many people put eggs in tuna and/or chicken salad. You are all officially WRONG. LOL! :^) Only potato salad needs eggs--and mustard!
I have never had apple in tuna salad. It sounds weird. I can imagine it's good in chicken salad...but tuna?? HOWEVER, like all the other interesting combos you've recommended, I hereby vow to try it!
For me, both chicken/tuna salad need mayo with finely chopped celery & onions. Tuna needs pickle relish (Heinz brand, no others), chicken needs dried cranberries and walnuts. Grapes need not apply. Almonds are best suited for the garbage.
Linda, have you ever tried the 50% reduced sugar Craisins? They are a very good alternative!
Either salad can be served on lightly toasted bread or buns. Croissants are too fancy for the likes of me.
Susie, the Lemon Thyme sounds amazing! I hope one of my local nurseries carries it this spring because I'd love to try it.
PS: Even after a good night's sleep I did not get much done. I was moving at a snail's pace all day. I did dishes and made a chicken pot pie for dinner. Really delicious, if I do say so myself.
ReplyDeleteBTW, thank you for your recipe! When I say I will try the grated apple, I mean I will make your recipe exactly as you wrote it just to see how it tastes. You've been right about everything else, so...
Sue,
DeleteI have not gotten much done today, either. Mostly, I slept. I have done nothing in the way of cooking or housework and it is 8:30 pm. I still have plans...lol.
Try half an apple and put an egg-sized blob of Miracle Whip. If you want more apple, add it. And, add MW as you like it. Maybe put in more of the relishes if you use apple, maybe a full Tablespoon of each.